Ambition's End
by ElectroGale
Summary: Spurred on by the death of his comrade, Zahir-2 aims to hunt down Tivik, Guardian Killer, a Fallen who has been murdering coubtless guardians. In a chase to uncover the mystery of the Eliksni's killings, Zahir goes through struggles related to the trauma he suffered in the Red War. (NEW CHAPTERS EVERY 6 DAYS). Also see Tales of a Mars Sentry for more on my characters!
1. Prologue

His name was Saiph.

He didn't know what his real name was, but "Saiph" was good enough. He and his mechanical friend had come up with it together, so it had to be special somehow. Saiph made do on his own for a while, building himself a suitable reputation. Though there was something about his work that unsettled him at times. He was often unsettled by his working alone, wondering what he would ever amount to. He never let the thought trouble him too much, though. He kept at his patrols and expeditions, slowly improving and growing.

Everything changed when he was approached by a titan that would change his life: Zahir-2. He couldn't remember exactly what had happened the day he was offered a role on the titan's scouting team, but it had filled him with determination. From his very first strike operation, a new vigor had entered his mind.

He owed it all to Zahir. If he hadn't joined, he would never have known the value of camaraderie. He would never really have had fun as a guardian. At least, as much fun one could get from his line of work. He assumed he would still be a lonely scrapper. Saiph had never been one to express himself. He thought to himself often that he needed to show his gratitude in words. He had to repay Zahir somehow.

That's why he couldn't die now.

Saiph, laying on his back, finished with his pondering. He ran his hand down to his belt and stealthily wrapped his fingertips around a knife. His last knife. A creeping dreg stepped through the shadowy veil that the blight surrounding them exuded. Its four eyes met the hunter, causing it to click in excitement. It believed Saiph was down and out for the count. That was the dreg's first mistake.

Saiph rolled over and pushed himself up with both arms. His movements were slow due to the blight, but he worked around it, plunging his knife into the surprised dreg's neck. The dreg, leaking ether, fell to the ground, prompting a booming roar from another Fallen deeper in the cave.

The cave he was in posed an odd question itself. Saiph wondered to himself: why was he in a cave? Why was there blight? He was sure he had been in a Fallen lair…

He felt at the rock surrounding him, unsure of its color due to the blight's desaturation of everything around it. He felt his fingers meet the ridges of a spiral shaped fossil. He had to be on Io, but how he had ended up on another world was beyond him. He went back to the dreg and knelt, examining its cloth. He couldn't make out its colors either, but they didn't appear dark enough to be purple, which confused him.

His confusion was interrupted by the sound of a small device being thrown near him. He looked down to his left. A small, cylindrical object had made its way near him, clattering as it rolled along the rock. It burst open, sending a mysterious black substance into the air. It curled within the tendrils of the blight, making the air even thicker. Saiph felt the gas tear away at his body. He weighed his options: He could stay where he was, or move out of the room he was in, facing inevitably more Fallen. Before he could decide, he heard the tight, stringy noise of a wire rifle being charged, and saw its bright blue energy building up like a beacon from the darkness beyond the room he was in.

The hunter's head slammed against the ground. The impact ringed through his skull, sending him into a daze. The wire rifle shot had pierced his side. It stung more than any other rifle the Fallen had used on him. He clutched the area under his ribcage, writhing in agony. He could barely see through all of the black wisps that danced across his visor. The blight. The gas. It was too much.

He had no choice. For some reason, he didn't feel his side getting any better. He summoned his ghost out of desperation and confusion, shielding it with his body. Its familiar pyramidal shape pressed against the fiber covering on his stomach. He heard a large Fallen make his way over, likely the bearer of the wire rifle. The footsteps were heavy, grinding pebbles into dust with each step. It had to be at least Archon sized. He had to hurry.

"Quick. I need my side repaired, now!" He whispered, but he realized it was futile. No blessings of the light made their way to him through the layers of oppression he was under, instilled by the blight and the mysterious gas coating the area. His vision became even more clouded. That Fallen was really going to kill him. He dragged himself across the floor. He shivered. He could feel the blight licking at his wound like a poison, as if mocking his condition. His ears were filled with the ominous pulsating of darkness. He felt three claws grasp his shoulder.

"No-" he muttered.

He was flipped onto his back. An array of symmetrical red lights swept into view, peering at him through the darkness that covered his vision. An archon's helmet. He was right, but it was a helmet that no Dusk Archon bore. There was no mistake. He was face to face with Tivik, Guardian Killer.

The hunter saw an arm, adorned in stolen warlock bonds, come into view and go past his head, grasping his ghost. Tivik tapped the shuddering ghost across the canisters lining his bandolier playfully, spinning the back half of the shell.

He wouldn't lose his ghost like this. Saiph brought himself to sit up with the last of his energy. Tivik looked down on the hunter, taking his attention away from his new toy, amused. Saiph weakly raised his sidearm. He could barely see, but all he needed to do was aim for the red lights that signalled where Tivik's head was. The Fallen laughed, breaking Saiph's arm with a swift blow from his lower fist. The sidearm clattered to the ground, far beyond him. As Saiph fell back down in pain, Tivik tossed the ghost into the air, blasting it with a mysterious weapon. It let out a crack that echoed through the hunter's ears and rang off of the walls. His ghost was shattered with a single shot. Saiph felt his ghost's death, both inside of him and physically, as a part of the dead ghost fell upon his stomach. He felt sick.

However, the loss of his light was not the only thing bringing him down. Tivik knew he had completely and utterly defeated the hunter, and gloated on it. He couldn't see it, though. His eyes were trapped in a swirling maelstrom of shadow. Tivik laughed, twisted and maniacally, even for a Fallen. In his newfound solace, the hunter began to put together the pieces on how he'd ended up here. How Tivik laid the perfect trap for his assassinations. He had to tell someone. He needed to let a guardian know how Tivik operated before another died. He needed to talk to Zahir.

Saiph sighed shakily. He was done for. He couldn't feel, see, or hear. He'd been bested by only the most cunning of Fallen. Figures. He'd spent most of his life doing the same to them. He closed his eyes, waiting for the end that Tivik's wire rifle would bring.

_Hey, hope you enjoyed the prologue! Projected length is abooouut 35 chapters, and chapter releases will probably accelerate by at least a day or two each in the summer. If you're interested, I have a Discord server in which I post extras about these stories, and I notify everyone when new chapters are out. DM for details, and please do feel free to leave reviews! It helps to know what people think!_


	2. Chapter 1

Zahir-2's pulse rifle fired, ripping through a Taken Acolyte. As it rot into wisps of darkness, a pair of Taken Thrall appeared before the titan and began to slash at him. Zahir blocked their fiery claws with his arm, wincing as they melted through his wrist. With his undamaged arm, he hurled an arc charged fist at one of the shadowy spectres' heads, causing a bright explosion that left no trace of either, but their hollow screams. He looked over at his teammate, a fellow titan by the name of Lacer, grappling against the weight of a Taken Centurion's projection rifle. Lacer broke his struggle and dove sideways, causing the Centurion to stumble forward. As he got back onto his feet, he summoned a blistering concentration of void light in his hand. He turned around and dusted his hands after attaching the magnetic grenade to his foe, who erupted in purple energy, lighting up the walls of the cave.

"Good work." Zahir nodded at his comrade, strapping his rifle to his back. Free of distractions, the two wandered deeper into the cave, lit by the radiant energy of Io. They soon approached the swirling mass of dark energy that was the blight. Its power lapped at the narrow entrance of a small room. Zahir noticed a shock blade plunged deep and neatly into the ground. One had obviously taken great care in marking the spot. What concerned him more than the blade, however, was the torn cloak that was wrapped around the hilt. He shakily reached for the ominous symbol and wrestled it out of the ground.

"Lacer… do you recognize this cloak?" He asked, holding it up to the slim, black clad titan.

"Mmm, lemme think." Lacer tapped his finger on the chin of his helmet, looking up at the cave's ceiling. He became lost in thought as his eyes drifted among the numerous fossils and cracks that dotted the rock above him.

"Oh yeah. Now that I think about it," he turned the cloak around, eying a weathered cattle skull insignia, "Saiph was wearing a cloak like this last time we… oh."

Lacer looked worriedly over at Zahir. The exo had put his head down, eyeing the empty slit in the floor of the cave. Yet another tragedy had befallen the titan. Lacer stepped forward, setting the remains of Saiph's cloak beside Zahir. Crucius, Zahir's ghost, was scanning the hilt of the shock blade.

"Tivik, Guardian Killer." Crucius translated from the Eliksni scratched onto the blade.

"Tivik? That Fallen that's supposedly been murdering Guardians recently?" Lacer asked in surprise.

Zahir nodded. "I think I've mentioned this before, but I had a run in with Tivik a long time ago. It was when I first met my fireteam." He winced. Memories of his friends flashed through his mind.

Zahir continued to explain through the pain. "He abducted Kale and Heather during our strike, and I only barely managed to save their lives. After the strike was called off, the three of us planned to hunt Tivik down and get revenge, which is how we became a fireteam in the first place. However, our investigations yielded nothing. He may have been "Guardian Killer" back then, but he didn't really have anything to show for it. We didn't exactly give up, we just slowly forgot about it. We had other things to worry about."

Zahir paused. "Something needs to be done. I don't know how he's suddenly killing guardians off, but we can't let this monster continue his rampage. We know now that he's not just a rumor, because starting with Saiph," he held the shock blade, holding the carved hilt to the light that seeped through the cracked ceiling of the cave, "he's started marking his victims. That means he's confident and dangerous."

Zahir seemed exhausted, and rightfully so. He found it hard to talk about his fireteam after their demise in the Red War. Lacer noticed his friend's distress, urging to change the subject.

"Hey, Zahir. Let's worry about Tivik later. Right now, we have a friend to lay to rest. I've got to notify the team, too."

"Right, right." Zahir untied the cloth, stepping outside of the cave. Zahir often forgot that he'd given his role as the leader of his scout team to Lacer. Lacer was a humble titan, who hadn't treated Zahir any different after his resignation. He was grateful of Lacer, as he was his closest friend after the Red War. Without a word, the two began their trip back to the city.

Zahir, Lacer, and four other guardians stood at the grave of their fallen comrade. A gold trimmed, jet black ceremonial hunter's knife, with what remained of Saiph's cloak wrapped around the hilt, lay plunged into the earth in front of a tombstone. Zahir looked over at what was once his scout team. Only Lacer and the Hunter Ascella were of the team before the Red War.

In place of the warlock, Vira, who gave his life during the attack on the city, and the ex-warlock Eltanin, Zahir's student, who lost her ghost during an operation in the war, were another warlock and a hunter. Another titan filled Lacer's spot, who had taken Zahir's role. In place of Saiph, of course, was nobody.

After each guardian paid their respects, they disbanded one by one, saying their farewells. Zahir's thoughts were on Eltanin at the moment, though not peacefully. Visions of the past stampeded into his mind. He saw her ghost being shattered to pieces, and her legs being torn apart by a Cabal headhunter round. As he calmed himself, leaning against a wall, Lacer walked up behind him.

Before Lacer could speak, Zahir asked on an impulse. "How is Eltanin doing?" Zahir hadn't visited his former student in her hospital at all. Regrettably now, he had spent most of the year following the Red War on Mars, where he was revived, recollecting himself. He had been busy with his new student as well…

"Oh, boy am I glad you finally asked about her! She really wishes you would have visited, but she's doing fine. Her surgery was last week, and, come to think of it…" Lacer whispered to his ghost, nodding. "Oh, she's being released tomorrow! I think it's about time you saw her." Lacer's voice turned serious as he finished his sentence.

Zahir was shocked at Lacer's sudden change of tone. His friend didn't often get serious, but he was right. It wasn't Lacer's job to check on Eltanin, yet he had put the burden on him regardless.

Lacer watched as Zahir struggled with his thoughts. He put a hand on the exo's shoulder. "Hey, better late than never, eh? She'll be happy to see you no matter what. Tell you what. How about I arrange for her to come to your apartment when she gets out?"

Before, Zahir could reply, Lacer turned away. "Alrightie, I'll make sure of it. See you soon."

Zahir watched as Lacer walked back to the city streets. He couldn't be mad at him. He'd brought the guilt of not visiting Eltanin upon himself.

Eltanin was, to him, a symbol of the incompetence he believed he possessed. The deaths he felt he could have prevented. The only partial survivor of a war that had broken his soul. Now, he had to face her, and consequently, all of that self inflicted guilt.


	3. Chapter 2

Zahir sat calmly on his couch. It had been a few months since he had been in his apartment, the last time being the Dawning. The plants he hadn't attended to had completely withered into the soil of their pots. A bundle of seed packets were neatly stacked atop the windowsill the plants lay on, partially covered by wrapping paper. His kitchen was a mess of pots and plates.

"Might as well clean up, huh?" Crucius suggested, appearing by his side.

Zahir nodded, making his way to the plants. Within half an hour, he had replaced the soil in each pot and planted new seeds, taking care to make sure each plant had suitable lighting.

As he began to clean his kitchen, there was a knock on his door. The knocks continued as Zahir hesitantly made his way over.

"You don't need to knock so many times, Lacer!" Eltanin complained jokingly, standing behind the excited titan as Zahir opened the door in front of them.

"'Ey Zahir. I brought her, just like I promised!" Lacer stepped behind Eltanin and hastily pushed her through the door. "I've gotta get to recruiting for the team, so I gotta run." He shut the door, leaving Zahir and the ex-warlock behind.

"I'll fix you some coffee." Zahir broke the silence the instant it began, walking over to the kitchen.

"Oh, okay. Do you remember how I like it?"

Zahir stood still, a cup in his hand. He tried as hard as he could to think to himself.

"That's alright, three sugars." Eltanin raised three fingers, smiling.

As Zahir began brewing, Eltanin took a seat at the kitchen counter. She took a quick sweep of his apartment, noticing just how little it had been visited. The Hive boomer Zahir had stolen and the television it was hung above were covered in a layer of dust. The lights were dim, in need of replacement.

Zahir set a cup before Eltanin and sighed, his distraction gone. "I'm sorry I didn't visit you. The year after the war was… complicated. Though I don't know if that's a good enough excuse." Eltanin's focus was pulled back to him. His blue eyes glowed as dim as the lights in the living room. His arms were spread over the countertop in a display of weakness. He felt all of his regret spill out. "I should have been there for you. You must have been devastated without your light."

"No, Zahir. It's alright. You've changed a lot in a year, maybe for the worse, but I've gone through a lot too. What matters is that you're here now, back in the city." Eltanin assured, leaning forward. Zahir picked his drooped head back up to look Eltanin in her tearful green eyes. "Besides, I had Lacer to look after me."

"That's exactly the problem. I should have visited. Instead, I wasted away on Mars, doing practically nothing for anyone."

"No, really, it's alright. You made a mistake, but now you've owned up to it. You didn't owe me visits. Also, who says that I wanted you to see me like that? Bedridden and in a wheelchair? I looked stupid." She joked, tapping Zahir on the head. The two shared a laugh. Zahir calmed down, though his head still spun with regret.

"Anyway," Eltanin continued, "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Hm?"

"My home was destroyed during the attack, and I haven't been able to find a place to stay." She explained with her head down. "I found work at a library and research facility called the Red Dome, and it happens to be really close to your apartment."

Zahir felt a sense of dread as he realized what she was coming to.

"The short commute would really help my recovering legs out, and I wouldn't have to struggle looking for a place to live if I could stay here." Eltanin looked back up. "So would it be okay with you? I could use the guest room, and I'd help pay the bills and stuff, you know?" Her face was wrought with anticipation, staring at the stunned titan.

Zahir felt his chest shrink. He wasn't sure if he could mentally handle what housing Eltanin would entail. He was still recovering, and he needed time, but he felt trapped.

"Of course… that's fine with me." Zahir managed to say. He ended his internal struggle, going with the answer that his concern for his former student steered him to.

Eltanin's face lit up in joy. "Thank you! Thank you so much!" She hugged Zahir from over the counter. The exo was glad he couldn't cry. It took his all not to be overwhelmed by the emotions instilled on him by seeing his student again.

Crucius' eye cast an array of lights over the shock blade, shutting his scan off as he noticed something peculiar.

"Zahir, I found a string of cloth. It's orange. Was Saiph's cloak orange at all?"

"Orange? No, I don't believe it was."

"Hmm. Perhaps it's Tivik's?"

"It has to be."

Zahir stared the blade down before setting it back on his dimly lit desk.

"Run a search on orange Fallen. We may have our first clue."

Crucius floated still, his eye flashing as he surfed through the VanNet.

"Got it. Just a couple of peculiar reports on Fallen messing around the Tangled Shore. Seems like they were particularly interested in Hive.

"The Tangled Shore?"

"Right. There was a crisis in the Reef a couple of months ago. The Tangled Shore became much more active, and there's supposedly guardians running around in the awoken homeland."

"Ah, the prison break that killed Cayde got that bad? I really have been out of the loop." Zahir set his forehead on his palm.

"Sorry. We'll check it out tomorrow if you want to. We know just where to look. There's a crashed tombship in the area, which is where both sightings took place."

"Right. Tomorrow it is, then." Zahir began to stand up as he shut his desk light off, leaving only the distant moon to light up his room.

Crucius became excited. His guardian hadn't taken up any patrols or missions on his own, only being forced to do so by the mentoring of his new student, the titan Bronze. He felt that the investigation of Tivik was a new spark for Zahir's ambition.

Zahir knelt at the edge of a teetering asteroid, surrounded by the mysterious purple mists of the Reef. He carefully watched the Hive in the distance go about their business. They lumbered around their ship and poked at curious patches of grass on the ground. The occasional Fallen crew drove by, causing conflict, but only the purple clothed Fallen that had been a mainstay in the system for a while now. Zahir took his head away from his sniper rifle's scope, sighing. His joints creaked as he stretched. He didn't know how long he had been watching at this point. The Jetsam had been quiet since the last pike gang clash a few hours ago.

Zahir set his back against a rock and lay his jet black Haake rifle in the dusty pockets of the asteroid. He felt the familiar swing of the giant rock as it was slowly pulled aside by its tethers. Zahir secretly hoped he wouldn't have to spend too much time investigating here. He despised the Tangled Shore, because there was no solid ground below him, only the unrelenting maw of endless space. He thought back to Tivik, compiling all he knew of the Guardian Killer in his mind, and attempted to source a clue from his knowledge out of boredom.

The origins of the name "Guardian Killer" weren't certain, but the rumor was that one day, Tivik stumbled upon a struggling fireteam as a dreg in the House of Devils. After trapping and killing the three guardians, it is assumed the Fallen bestowed upon him the title of Guardian Killer, and that he soon broke off from the house and became a mercenary by the time of Zahir's encounter. Throughout his early career, however, Tivik had not lived up to his name, only killing a few light bearers and working as a common gun for hire for the Fallen until the Red War. Truly, Tivik had only gotten his title by chance, and faded into obscurity. What Tivik had learned that allowed him to go on a killing spree after the war was what Zahir aimed to know at all costs.

"Zahir! I see them! Orange Fallen! Crucius pinged a cave, startling Zahir. Zahir stumbled back to his sniper, aiming at Crucius' direction. Sure enough, two vandals in orange banners peered at the Hive from across the Jetsam, acknowledged each other, and headed back into their hideout. Zahir put his sniper rifle away, leaping off of his perch and onto the ground below.

"What's the plan?" His ghost asked, dissolving into hiding.

"Follow and catch them at all costs." Zahir went into a sprint, leaping up as his sparrow materialized under him. He sped toward the cave in hot pursuit of his enemy.

Tivik may have been operating under the radar, a mere rumor, but the unraveling of his methods began now.


	4. Chapter 3

"Agh, I should have known this would happen!" Zahir yelled, tumbling to the ground as his sparrow exploded. Its fiery demise sent shrapnel into Zahir's back, keeping him struggling on the ground. Hive shredders continued to zip past him and pelt his armor. He rolled over to avoid a boomer shot, taking cover behind a rock.

"Hold still." Crucius said, restoring Zahir's armor. "The cave's not far now."

Zahir looked over his cover. Between him and Tivik's crew were a small army of Hive. He set his pulse rifle up, bursting down the Thrall that had begun to close on his position.

"Got an idea?" Crucius' voice filled Zahir's comms. The titan ducked behind cover to reload.

"I will admit, getting across that field seems difficult at the moment." Zahir stowed his pulse rifle and clashed his fists together. "But remember that trick I learned last month? Thundercrash?"

"Yeah, I remember that time you freaked out Over Bronze fighting a plain Captain."

"Quiet, that's not my point. It's perfect for a situation like this." Zahir stepped back, laying low to stay protected. He began to will arc energy into his entire body. A surge of power overtook him. Just as he had the day he discovered the art of the Thundercrash, he put all of his concentration into moving forward.

The Hive watched in amusement as the arc charged titan soared through the air above them. Arc energy sparked off of him and stung the Hive, as if warding them away from the exo missile. Zahir rocketed toward the cave mouth, and landed with a mighty crack. He stood up and retreated into the cave, grunting as he was reintroduced to the sting of the Hive's weapons.

"Remember, we're only here to find out what they're after." Crucius cautioned. Zahir nodded. He raised a silenced sidearm from his side and deactivated the bright orange light on his helmet's visor. The area he was in seemed to be completely bare, hiding what lay uphill.

Zahir continued forward, looking over the hill to a vast circular cave room. Several Fallen caches lay toward the back wall. A dozen or so Vandals were lined up to the right, carrying mysterious devices that resembled large vacuums. The two that Zahir had spotted seemed to be conversing with a Captain, who seemed to be the highest ranked Fallen in the room. He was rather short, and had a necklace of dead ghost shells wrapped around his neck. The sight made Zahir's head thump in sickness and anger.

"Scratch that. We won't be able to go about this quietly." Zahir put his sidearm away, prompting Crucius to summon a sleek, gunmetal gray rocket launcher into his hands. Zahir slowly loaded three rockets. He hadn't used a rocket launcher in a long time, but they were simple tools of destruction. He aimed at the Vandal platoon, being the highest concentration of Fallen in the cave.

"Are you sure about this? Those devices the Fallen are carrying could be a huge clue."

Zahir didn't respond, his emotions like a wind in his head, urging him to kill. He let his rocket launcher fire. Then again. Then again.

The Fallen began to scramble as the rockets soared toward them. Each one connected, sent a few Fallen flying from the impact. As he watched them flee in terror, a horrible thought crawled further into his mind. He revelled in their suffering. He felt as if he was owed their cries of anger and anguish at the sight of their dead comrades. After all, he had gone through the same thing.

Zahir's thoughts cleared just in time to see several Fallen scrambling to his position. He set his rocket launcher aside and brought out a sleek Haake shotgun. He let a buckshot tear into the first Vandal that leapt at him. As it was sent flying back, he thrust his elbow into the head of another, snapping its neck in one blow. Another Vandal fell to his shotgun. Zahir noticed several bullet holes riddling his torso as he pumped his shotgun once more. Pain rushed through his body, causing him to stumble to his knees. He pushed onward, fueled by newfound rage and apathy. As he killed the last Vandal attacking him, he succumbed to his wounds. All went dark, and he fell.

"Woah!" Crucius yelled, as Zahir re entered the world. He felt a Fallen wire rifle shot strike his shield as his body regenerated, shielding his ghost from a fatal blow. Zahir heard a scoff from a tunnel in front of him, and a rush footsteps.

Zahir trudged through the mess of corpses he had made, heading straight for the tunnel.

"Zahir! Slow down! We have no idea what awaits beyond that tunnel. We need to retreat or call in a fireteam!

"We can't let them get away. We haven't found anything out yet." Zahir began sprinting through the tunnel, stopping in his tracks as a cluster of traps sprang from the floor.

''Web mines! The titan yelled. He destroyed one with his fist, but he realized it was in vain as the other few detonated, covering his vision in a silky white web. No Fallen awaited ahead of him. He slowly turned his head around the tunnel, searching for enemies, until he saw a set of eyes looking at him from above. An additional light appeared below the eyes, and a wire rifle shot ripped through his shoulder. His assailant blinked as another mine detonated in front of him. This Fallen was going to keep immobilizing him with, and eventually kill him.

"What are we going to do?" Crucius asked, his voice, even through Zahir's comms, a distorted jumble.

Zahir, now aware of the existence of more, saw a web mine slowly descend from the ceiling to the ground in front of him. It seemed that the webs affected gravity as well. Zahir looked down at his feet. The floor was littered with dirt and gravel. The titan began to slam into the ground, throwing a veil of dirt around him.

The Fallen above him began to panic, shooting his wire rifle into the brown shade in an attempt to hit the exo. He was taken by surprise as the hulking orange titan quickly came into view below. Zahir grabbed the Marauder by the throat with both hands, pulling him down as his lift wore off. He descended slowly, once again afflicted by the web mine, and slammed the Marauder into the ground. As the effects of the mine wore off, the Marauder saw his chance to escape. He stuck his bladed arm into Zahir's side and skittered away, picking his wire rifle off of the ground. Zahir, annoyed at his injury, blasted the Fallen's arm with his shotgun, causing him to drop his weapon and fall over in pain. The Marauder roared in anger, procuring more web mines in each of his undamaged arms. Before Zahir could pump the forend of his shotgun, the mines had gone off, leaving Zahir in a lethargic state once more.

"Just how many of these mines does he have?" Zahir complained, struggling to run through. Before he could kick up dust to shield himself, two wire rifle shots ripped through his armor in quick succession. Zahir stumbled back and fell to the ground. He continued to shuffle back, reeling from his injuries. Another web mine detonated, followed by the glow of the Marauder's wire rifle. An arc bolt ripped through Zahir's foot, but the titan was unfazed. He had switched his shotgun for his pulse rifle at this point, having aimed in the direction of the Marauder in front of him. As the dirt settled around and over him, he fired.

The Marauder seemed to be gone from his spot, though, as the bullets yielded no damage. Another web mine went off, followed by a wire rifle shot hitting Zahir's shoulder. The Fallen had gone above him again.

"I can't heal you quick enough! You need to do something!" Crucius' distorted voice came through to Zahir once more. Zahir remained calm in his newfound state of apathy, taking another shot in the chest. He coughed, his vision beginning to black out. One or two more shots would kill him, then his ghost would he captured and destroyed. He wouldn't let that happen.


	5. Chapter 4

"Darvahk, do you still believe in the nobility of our kind?" Tivik asked, sitting atop his throne of victims. The dim light in the room revealed multiple helmets, plates, and guardian cloths adorning his seat. The rest of the room was cast in darkness, hiding various trinkets and weapons.

Darvahk cocked his head.

"I am aware that it is a strange question to ask, given where you come from." Tivik continued, eying the tablet in his hands. He set it down on his right armrest, leaning forward. His archon helmet cast an imposing shadow over the dreg.

"You were House Exile before the Cabal came. You saw the lowest of our society. You even saw the disgraced creatures that we would come to call the Scorn as they formed the vile mindsets they carried until their demise." He raised his fist into the air as he finished his sentence.

"I conscripted you into my crew for one reason only. You flow with resolve. You are a dreg, yet I see past your ragged appearance, your rank. I see great things within you."

Tivik's words carried truth. Darvahk never lacked resolve. From his first scavenge in the House of Devils, Darvahk had shown incredible determination. When his crew fell, he stood firm. When he was demoted, he stood firm. When he was cast out of his house, he stood firm. The entire world seemed to be against him, but Darvahk never stopped striving for a better life, and here was Tivik, offering him a chance.

Tivik continued, his words wrapping around Darvahk like a comforting cloth. "You have lacked purpose all your life. By offering you a place within my crew, I feel that together, we can harness your skills in ways you have never deemed possible. Follow me, and my dream of retaking the Traveler. We can become mighty again. We can restore the honor of our people."

Darvahk nodded. "I will follow you. However, I'd like to hear more of your dream. I am intrigued."

"Perhaps after I greet the rest of our recruits. Go. Look for Noxis. He will provide you with all you will need, and…" he pointed to Darvahk's missing arms, "Cast off your docks. They have no place in my crew."

Tivik was right. Darvahk's intuition and ideas in trap laying were invaluable to the crew, earning him the nickname "The Trapper". He was the first Eliksni in, and the last one out, ensuring Tivik's crew had a safe passage in and out of their operations. However, he had never personally encountered a guardian. His skills would be put to the test one day, but he was ready. He'd do whatever he could for Tivik. The one who had given him purpose and strength.

Darvahk's mind calmed. He put aside the panic that had set in from being shot. He needed to kill this titan for Tivik. His wire rifle began to wind up for a killing blow.

Zahir heard his ghost's warnings as a flurry of words in his head. "Don't worry. I didn't come here to be killed by a mere underling of Tivik." He declared, his rifle already raised toward the faint glow of the Fallen weapon through the webs. He pulled the trigger, his hit signified by grunts of pain. Zahir felt his shields begin to restore, but they were quickly halted by another round hitting his wrist. His pulse rifle clattered to the floor above him, out of reach. Another web mine detonated at his feet.

"Tivik! Witness my work! I have made you proud!" Darvahk yelled in Eliksni, his wounds dripping. He readied his rifle for another shot. The titan was in clear view below him. No dust tricks or gunfire would stop him. Reaching for either of his guns would get Zahir killed. The slightest hint of his shields restoring would earn him another bullet hole. All of his and Tivik's work had amounted to this moment. His first guardian kill. No longer was he a mere dreg. He had become a Marauder by the mercy of Tivik and his own resolve. He had made something of himself. For the first time in years, Darvahk felt a hint of happiness.

"I'm not out of options yet." Zahir siphoned arc energy into his palm, releasing it in the form of a grenade.

"That won't do." Darvahk mused, skittering away from the pulses of the grenade. Zahir raised his fist, encased in a frenzy of arc energy. Causing the Marauder to run had bought just enough time for him. His fist of havoc slowly plummeted down, building up energy as it travelled. As his knuckles met the ground, a brilliant explosion rattled the tunnel. A wave of arc energy dispersed the effects of the remaining web mines, and swept dirt away from rock. Darvahk tumbled to the ground in front of him, his orange banners now smoking black. He approached the twitching Marauder.

Darvahk wasn't going to give up. He knew the titan was still weakened. All he needed was one fatal blow. He slowly stood up, drawing a shock pistol, and shakily raised it to the titan's head. His felt his broken ribs pierce his lungs, but his pain couldn't have been worse than what the beast of light in front of him suffered. Zahir stood firm, his pulse rifle raised. His shoulder was slumped from being shot. He felt the four armed invader in front of him radiate determination. It seemed to transfer to Zahir and manifest itself as a rush of energy that allowed him to remain standing, despite his fatal wounds.

As he heard the titan's shields begin to restore, Darvahk roared, pulling the trigger. Arc rounds ripped through the air, but missed their mark, piercing Zahir's arm, now guarding his head. Darvahk began to falter, weakened, but he stopped himself from blacking out. He took another shot, but it was blocked as well, ripping Zahir's arm to shreds.

"This guardian has gone mad. He shouldn't be able to stand!" Darvahk thought to himself. Still, Darvahk could not fall yet. He had worked his whole life to get to where he was. He couldn't be stopped now.

Zahir lumbered toward Darvahk, still suffering from his wounds. He felt his chest scream in pain, his senses assaulted by the holes surrounding his body, but now was his only chance to end the Marauder. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shock blade activate.

"Now!" Darvahk croaked, swinging his blade toward the titan with all of his remaining might. He did not land a hit. A fist broke through his helmet before the blade could meet, and knocked him to the ground. Zahir had anticipated that the Marauder would make a move as his shields began to restore.

"Tivik." The titan demanded, looming over the Fallen, who slowly shook his head. He wouldn't tell the lightbearer anything. He just hoped he had stalled long enough. He hoped Tivik had seen the fight he put up.

"Tivik!" Zahir yelled, his voice tired, grabbing the Marauder by the hood, but Darvahk had died. He released the body, dusting ashes off of his gloves.

Zahir continued through the tunnel, accelerating his pace as Crucius healed him, and found himself in a small circular room, met with three more tunnels with doors at their ends. He heard the bellowing roars of a skiff's engines above him.

"No, if I could have found out which way they'd gone…" Zahir began to panic. He dashed toward the door on his left, bursting through with his shoulder. He raised his pulse rifle, but was met with nothing but the endlessness of the reef. He had chosen the wrong door. He looked over, far to the right. The last of the crew were boarding the final skiff. Their fearful eyes met his as they boarded.

"Zahir, we're done here." Crucius cautioned, as Zahir started for the Fallen craft.

"What?" Zahir stopped in his tracks.

"We're done. We should head back. You won't get anything out of attacking that skiff. I doubt Tivik is leaving last, and you've seen now what his underlings can do. You need to rest.

Zahir clenched his fists and looked down at the ground. A pulsing wave of clouded anger that had been looming over his head for the past several minutes left his mind with the orange painted skiffs. He felt tens of pounds lighter.

"Alright. We'll head back."


	6. Chapter 5

"You went alone?" Eltanin asked in disbelief, standing before Zahir at their apartment door.

"It was an intel run. I had things handled." Zahir turned his head aside, taking his key out of the door.

"Nonsense! Look at you. You took such a beating that your armor is all dented!" She ran her hand along the most damaged part of Zahir's armor, which Crucius did his best to restore, his gauntlet. Zahir flinched, thinking back to his final stand with the Marauder.

"Zahir, I'm glad you're back safe, but promise me that you'll take a fireteam when you track Tivik. We don't know exactly what he's capable of."

The exo looked down, still avoiding Eltanin's face.

"Alright, I will."

"Good." Eltanin's frown turned to a smile. "I'm gonna settle down. I just got home from work."

"Alright. I'll be making dinner tonight."

A surprised voice called out from behind Zahir's couch.

"Wait! You two live together?"

An auburn hair covered head, kept neatly in a ponytail, came into view.

"Oh, yeah. Bronze invited herself over. It was nice meeting her." Eltanin commented, disappearing into the hall beside the kitchen. Zahir realized that he had never introduced his former to his current protege.

Bronze's bewilderment began to subside. "I thought she was just visiting, like me."

"Did she make it sound like that?" Zahir replied nonchalantly, bringing a pan out from a cupboard.

"Yeah! I didn't think she'd lie to me like that. She's so nice!"

"That may be true, but she's had a lot of witty influences." Zahir cracked an egg. Memories of his time as Eltanin's guide to their wild universe filled his mind, as they often did when he took Bronze on patrols.

"So, what were you up to today?" Bronze asked, fiddling with a TV remote.

"I ran into Tivik's crew, but I didn't find much out."

"And you got into a tussle." Bronze reminded him.

"Yes. There was a particular Marauder than I had trouble bringing down. I'll tell the story to you some other time."

"By the way," Crucius appeared at Zahir's side. His eye began to cloud up from the steam rising out of the pan, "we did find something out. Tivik's crew were armed with some sort of vacuum-like devices. What they were for, we have no idea."

"Right… I forgot about that." All that lingered in Zahir's mind was the killing he had done, and his near perma-death experience.

"Come to think of it, those vandals we saw… it looked like they were scouting out the Hive." Crucius pondered. Perhaps they were… harvesting something the Hive use?"

"That's it. It's got to be the poison gas that wizards expel that they're after! It's the only reason they would use devices like that." Zahir concluded, turning to Crucius, "We're going back tomorrow."

"We need a fireteam though. I'll call Lacer after dinner." His ghost argued.

"Hey, would you mind if I came along, too?" Bronze piped from across the room, her eyes filled with excitement.

"You can't. These Fallen are different. They're extremely dangerous.

"I can handle myself! I'm strong! Please, just let me go with you. You know what I can do, and you can use as much help as you can get."

Zahir sighed, setting a spatula down. "Fine, I'll take you along. But you have to be careful. Now, sit down. I'm making dinner for three."

A vandal stumbled into the dimly lit room, his breath ragged. He leaned against the door and spoke. "It troubles me to be a bearer of bad news, but…" he paused, frozen in fear at the sight of the Fallen surrounding the table before him. His superiors.

"Speak, Dreliks. have no fear." A soothing voice boomed at the head of the table, directly across the Vandal. The many lights on Tivik's helmet bore into the Vandal's eyes.

"The Trapper has died."

A low murmur began to spread across the room.

Dreliks continued. "I did not see much, but Darvahk came very close to killing the titan that ended his life. I could not have helped in time."

"Fool!" A scratchy voice yelled, "we asked you to accompany him! He may have lived if not for you!"

"He asked me to leave, Master Noxis."

"I do not believe you. You have thrown away a valuable asset of our crew. We should kill him for his incompeten-"

"Nonsense." Tivik interuppted, laying a hand on the old captain's shoulder. "I know Darvahk. It is not unlike him to sacrifice himself for the good of the crew. If he had not stopped that titan, we may have lost a skiff, or even two. He simply underestimated our enemy." He turned to Dreliks. "You may leave. Be sure to file a report on that titan."

"Now, what shall we do?" Tivik clasped his upper hands together, setting them on the table as Dreliks exited. "Our harvest was unsuccessful, and we now have guardians on our tail."

"I say you stop marking our targets. Was a horrible idea." A light, agitated voice called from beside Tivik. "We gotta keep doing what we been doing, just without the knives."

"No, Spekris, we must learn to be feared by facing fear. I have told all of you this." Noxis swept a finger across the table. "Besides. You, Miskor, and Darvahk were trained specifically for this reason. For when we became the hunted. If simply making ourselves known leads to our downfall, then we have no place in our line of work."

The other three Fallen agreed, nodding in unison.

"I will see to it that our next harvest goes undistracted. I have been yearning to see combat again." Noxis slowly brought himself up from his chair, causing his necklace of ghost fragments to clatter against the table's edge. He was not much taller than the average Vandal, and was covered almost completely by a wide, heavy cloak. He took his captain's helmet from a shelf behind him.

"Noxis, you should not. You could be killed." Tivik reached after the captain, who swat his hand away."

"I may be old, but I have taught you everything you know. Relax. Remember, all of you, the path to reclaiming the Great Machine is the downfall of humanity!" Noxis turned away and continued through the door and out of sight. The two Fallen sitting beside Tivik looked over to him in anticipation.

"You two, retrieve Darvahk's body. We will have a ceremony tomorrow." He waved his upper arms across the table. As the two Vandals got up from their seats, the more hunched of the two spoke.

"Spekris, do you think we will fight guardians as well?" The Eliksni asked worriedly, eying Darvahk's vacant chair at the table.

Spekris stretched his spindly, unarmored arms as the door opened. "Miskor, you young fool, things will only get more difficult for sure. We might, we might not, who knows? But you listen to me. If we run into one of em lightbearers, we'll kill em and smash their ghost to pieces. Remember, we're here to fill in the gaps of Tivik's strengths. He can't trap em, we take em out."

"Y-yes… that's right, Spekris, that's right!" Miskor calmed himself. His fear of Guardians was replaced with reassurance. He and Spekris were built to fend them off. He would do anything to help Tivik reach the Traveler.

"Ah, so ol' Zahir needs my help again? It warms my heart to be invited to a mission with you again, but I've gotta get to recruiting a replacement for Saiph. The Vanguard's really pushin' for us to chart as much of the Reef as we can." Lacer explained from the other end of Zahir's phone, "I could send Ascella, though."

"No, no, that won't be necessary. Thanks." Zahir promptly shut the call off. He turned to Bronze, who was suited up in her teal armor and polishing her rifle.

"Well, Lacer won't be able to help, but I have good news. With the Vanguard's approval to oversee the investigation of Tivik, and Eltanin's help, I have instant access to all reports of his crew without having to run searches. Crucius, show her." Zahir nodded to his ghost.

"That's a funny looking Captain. What's he doing in the Shore?" Bronze asked, as a report flashed through her helmet.

"That's what we're going to find out. It seems he's hanging out near the Hive, which only further solidifies the Wizard poison theory." Zahir turned around as he heard his ship fly into the hangar. "Let's go. We have Fallen to hunt."


	7. Chapter 6

"There he is! That's the captain!" Bronze called out, pointing to the old Captain. They stood in an open field on the shore, behind a crashed Hive Tombship.

"Hold on, there's something wrong. Why is he just standing there?" Zahir questioned, staring down Noxis. The Eliksni ran his upper arm through the necklace of Ghosts around his neck. Zahir felt sick to the core once again. Noxis' torso was nearly completely covered by a large, brown cloak. His four eyes narrowed mischievously.

"Doesn't matter, we gotta catch him!" Bronze began to sprint toward Noxis, pelting him with shots from her rifle. He swiftly retreated behind a rock, his shields beginning to falter.

"We've got him pinned, that idiot." Bronze scoffed, marching toward the rock. Before she could get close enough to blast it into pieces, Noxis shot away from his cover aboard a pike, speeding off into the distant, dusty fields.

"Let's go!" Zahir yelled, summoning his sparrow. Bronze followed, and the two went off in pursuit of the pike. As they slowly inched closer, Zahir saw large objects approach from the corners of his eyes. Four more pike riders, two on each side, began to flank the captain.

Noxis smiled under his helmet. These guardians were dead. He held his hand up, prompting the pike riders to fall back and behind the sparrows.

"Jump!" Zahir yelled, and the titans leapt off of their sparrows. Bronze landed on the backseat of the pike behind her, and knocked the rider off with ease. The vandal roared as it tumbled into the dust behind them. Zahir, however, was not as lucky, barely catching the back of a pike. He hung off of the side, nearly avoiding the flames of its exhausts. The vandal driving the pike grunted in annoyance, drawing a shock pistol with its free arm. Multiple arc rounds struck Zahir's armor before he reached forward and grabbed the vandal by its cloak. After being relieved of its driver, the pike rapidly began to lose speed. Zahir yelled as he and the pike tumbled onto the ground.

"Zahir!" Bronze reached behind her.

"No! Keep after that captain! I'll catch up to you! And take care of the other pikes!" Zahir urged as he began flipping the sparrow over.

Bronze looked over at her sides. The two remaining pikes began to fall back, ready to shoot her down. She smiled. Those Fallen had no idea what they were in for. She let go of the pike's handlebars, raising her fists, and brought her arc energy down onto the pike. A flurry of shrapnel and electricity struck the pike riders, leaving only three twisted heaps of metal in its wake. Zahir caught up on his stolen Fallen craft as Bronze summoned her sparrow, and they continued their chase.

The titans stood at the edge of a large, shoddy metal dome. Their vehicles rested behind them.

"It's definitely a trap." Zahir concluded, looking over the building.

"We have no other choice but to go in, though. That captain's in there." Bronze decided, stepping forward. As soon as she passed the entrance to the building, several explosive projectiles bombarded her, killing her instantly. Her ghost rose out of the smoky crater that remained.

"Bronze! Zahir yelled, rushing toward her ghost. He took the mechanical orb into his arms, bracing himself against more explosive shells. Ghosts were durable, but he wasn't taking any chances. He breathed heavily as Bronze rematerialized. His back was riddled with dents. A pulsing sensation began to cloud his head. Once more, just as the day before, a haze began to envelop his senses.

Zahir launched into a full sprint. Bronze followed close behind, confused. Zahir sped past the shells launched at him and skidded to a stop. Several platform lined the inside of the building, and directly in front of him stood the captain, his cloak spread open to reveal three of his arms wielding Cabal projection rifles. Zahir raised his pulse rifle to the captain, but Bronze held his shoulder back.

"What are you-" Zahir turned around to address Bronze, but was met with her finger pointing up beyond him. Zahir looked back. The orange glows of a dozen or so projection rifles revealed more Fallen surrounding the captain.

"They lured is in here to bombard us!" Zahir began to backpedal, but several explosions behind him sent the message that there was no escape.

"Remember my one request: Do not throw away lives." Tivik reminded Noxis, who signalled the Vandals to his sides. On his cue, a loud bang preceded the slow rolling of a black fume into the sphere.

Zahir grabbed Bronze's arm, leading her to take cover under a platform as he shot a vandal down. He heard the Fallen begin to clamber down from their perches above. He sighed, calming himself, and produced a sphere of void light around himself and Bronze. Moments after his ward of dawn went up, projection rifles began to bombard their cover.

"I don't use void light often, so this bubble isn't going to last long at all, and," Zahir looked over at the floor. A sickly black and green gas began to roll over the floor, "I was right, they're weaponizing Hive poison." He turned to Bronze.

"Bronze! That gas has to be coming from somewhere. I need you to look around and find the source. This sphere isn't too big, and it'll take another half minute at most for the gas to reach head level. I'll distract the Fallen."

"But what about you?" Bronze asked, looking over her shoulder as she began to exit the ward.

"I trust you, Bronze. You can do this." He said to the young titan, pushing her out. Zahir lifted himself onto the platform above him. He swept his leg out and sent a buckshot into the Vandal he had taken down, lifting again before he could be bombarded. He looked around. Several Vandals lined the platforms and the edges of the building, clinging to the walls. Beyond the web of Cabal ordinances being launched at him, he saw the old Captain. He attempted to aim at the Captain with his pulse rifle, but he was out of range. He resolved to eliminating three more Vandals nearby before he fell to the floor. As soon as he landed, though, he was struck by multiple explosions before he could commence another lift.

"The skiffs are in position outside. Our victory is ensured! Reload, quick!" Noxis yelled to his remaining crew.

"Master Noxis, what of the other-" a Vandal started, but was stopped by the sight of a titan in front of him. Bronze began to slam her fists together, crackling with arc energy.

"Right here." She declared.

Zahir looked up at his student preparing to eliminate the rest of the Fallen. His body and armor were riddled with holes, and he struggled to stay on his knees as Crucius frantically worked to regenerate him. "Well done, Bronze. You found the source of the gas. Now get rid of those Fallen. I shot the ones on the edges of their formation so you could kill them all with one fist of havoc."

"Whoo!" Bronze yelled, leaping up into the air and bringing her fists down on the metal platform. In an instant, the Vandals that had survived Zahir's scheme disintegrated into arc energy. The webs of blue that were their remains became one with the air around them.

Noxis, who had begun to retreat from the blast zone, lay crashed against a wall. A portion of his frontal armor was charred black, and ether leaked out of a single broken tube on his helmet. He shakily raised an arm to his helmet. His voice was rough and scratchy.

"Do it."

The deafening whine of a Fallen skiff filled the ears of Zahir and Bronze, who had begun to make their way toward the injured captain. They looked to the direction of the noise.

The metal of the spherical building began to bulge.

Then, a Fallen skiff, painted orange, burst through the thin metal, rocketing toward the titans at a high speed.


	8. Chapter 7

Molten metal dripped from the body of the skiff, its front half completely gone. Flames ripped through the air, filling the dome with a choking smoke. An old captain, brutally injured, was lifted up by 3 vandals.

"Faster, they will be back soon." He growled, as the blue shine of the ghosts and the red of the flames clashed against his armor. The vandals scuttled out of the building with Noxis.

The second skiff began to take off as two titans rose from the heat. Zahir watched through the mess of the crashed skiff as the other shot off into the reaches of the Reef.

Zahir kept his gaze on the tiny windows of twisted sheet metal around the skiff. He heard Bronze surface beside him.

"That was tough. Get some rest." He said to the rookie titan.

"Me, tired? No, I feel like a million bucks!" Bronze thrust her arms in the air excitedly.

"Alright, then. Go home. I'm going to examine the site."

"Then I will. That sounds boring as hell, just like you." Bronze quipped, knocking Zahir's helmet with her fist before walking off. Zahir, to her surprise, ignored her and began to walk toward the gas tanks.

"Noxis. That could have ended poorly." Tivik's voice scrambled into Noxis' helmet as the captain was stripped of his armor.

"I am aware, but all that matters is that the harvest went undistracted, and I am still alive." Noxis' body began to be wrapped in bandages, covering the burn marks on his dark purple skin. A healing medicine seeped onto his body.

"Hah!" I would have no need for these bandages if we had the Traveler. Noxis scoffed, looking down at his wrapped torso.

"You sacrificed the lives of an entire skiff crew to hold off that guardian."

"THOSE guardians." The captain retorted, as he loaded his projection rifles into a case. He grabbed his burnt, torn cloak from his side and handed it to a vandal, who nodded and headed away. "Do you value the lives of 12 vandals over mine? We could have killed that guardian, had he not learned of our use of the Hive's poison."

"They must have found out the day Darvahk died." Tivik considered woefully.

"Bah! Then it is your fault I was defeated, Tivik." Noxis slammed a claw onto the bench he sat on. The echoes of his attack were lost in the rumblings of the travelling skiff.

"We were not expecting an attack that day. Besides, you have wronged me as well. You promised me you would not waste lives!"

"These Eliksni are mere contractors. They have little value. We can simply request more from House Dusk."

"That is true, but remember, I fight for the nobility of our kind. Would an Eliksni throw away the lives of his comrades?"

"Our only goal is the reclamation of the Traveler! We are fighting Guardians. The death of many Eliksni is inevitable in our struggle."

Tivik fell silent, thinking.

"Tivik, our line of work is a risk to everyone. I realize there may have been potential in that skiff's crew, but I am the entire reason we launched our operation. You must trust me."

"...Understood."

"I will arrange a meeting with that rat Gourn. We will require more arms. I would recommend taking Spekris and Miskor. We cannot risk you." Noxis eyed the case in front of him.

"I will see you aboard the ketch." Tivik closed the communications, leaving Noxis alone with his thoughts. He sat, his back leaned against the wall, as his skiff broke the asteroid field and rocketed into the stars.

"They do use Hive gas, but we found something more troubling than that." Zahir explained, sitting at his desk. "The old captain that Bronze and I encountered was using Cabal projection rifles. That either means that they steal these arms, or they're making deals."

"How hard was this captain to fight against?" Eltanin asked, leaning forward in her seat.

"Not nearly as hard as the marauder, with Bronze helping. He managed to escape, however."

Eltanin looked troubled.

"Tomorrow's usually not a busy day, so I'll look into any Cabal trade with the Fallen." Eltanin glanced at a calendar on the wall. She began to speak again, by was interrupted by an unattentive Zahir.

"Great. I'll go out as soon as you find something."

Eltanin shifted around uncomfortably. "Zahir, you seem different." She blurted, looking down at her lap.

"Do I?" He had already begun to stand up.

"I mean, all you really talk about is all of this… Tivik business." She waved her hand around the numerous data reports pinned and taped to the walls of Zahir's room.

"That true, but I have to stop this. Slowly but surely, he'll keep on killing guardians."

"I know, but don't do anything rash, please. You need to take care of yourself."

"I'm going to have to be rash." Zahir began to walk out. "I'm making dinner. Want anything in particular?"

"Zahir… you do know it's Pasta Friday, right?"

"It's Friday?" Zahir clutched the side of his head. "Of course… yes, it is Friday. Sorry I asked." He disappeared behind the door.

Eltanin looked down at her lap again. Her face was wrought with regret and fear. She looked over Zahir's workspace again. In only a week, he had produced and poured over several hundred documents, often complaining that barely anything came of his findings. She wondered why such a potent force was able to kick start its operation so quickly and silently. She wondered what Zahir would do about it.

"Damn this Walker." The warlock muttered, floating above a missed cannon shot. The explosion decimated the Nessus plant life behind him as he descended. He braced himself for the fire of the walker's point defense gun. As he stumbled back from the arc rounds piercing his body, he saw the cannon ready another shot. Unable to get away, he was disintegrated by the following shell.

As he awoke, he noticed his vision was nearly covered in black. How long had he been dead? The light was strong in this area. Then he remembered. He recalled spotting several gas tanks on the side of the walker. Of course. These Fallen were weaponizing Hive poison. He did not run into the Hive often, but any lightbearer knew the lethality that wizards brought to the field.

Another shot ripped through the smoke. It pushed him into the ground, exploding and destroying his shields. He clutched his chest in agony as the laser of the tank's barrel glared at him once more. He was ready. With his remaining strength, he focused arc energy in his hand and launched it in front of him, colliding with the missile a few meters in front of him.

He had bought just enough time for his ghost to heal the wound on his chest. He stood up and shot at the weakened front left leg of the walker with a hand cannon, downing the machine. The gas stopped rising, cut off from its source. Before he could fire into the core, a dreg leapt down from above and onto the head, carrying a shrapnel launcher. It hissed in anger, rapidly firing solar pellets into the warlock.

"I see. You're the owner of this walker." The warlock powered through another shrapnel launcher shot that tore his robes to grab the dreg by its neck. "I don't want to waste any more time then I have to, so call your walker off before it blows you to pieces." He demanded. The dreg noticed that the recovered walker's barrel was pointed at the warlock, and, consequently, himself. He hurriedly clutched a device on his hip, and the walker powered down with a whine.

"I'll get straight to the point. You." He pointed at the dreg with his free hand. "Work for Tivik?" The warlock asked, his grip still tight.

The dreg slowly shook its head.

"The gas." He pointed to the tanks. "Tivik's?"

The Fallen nodded.

"I see." He began to lower the dreg, who seemed relieved. But before the Eliksni met the ground, he was killed by the channeling of arc energy through the warlock's arm.


	9. Chapter 8

Crucius' scans swept across the cave wall, bringing a much needed contrast to the murky green rock. Zahir impatiently tapped his foot, disrupting the rhythm of sharp jolts that Crucius produced.

"I've got it. Several Cabal slugs. Buried in the ceiling." The ghost drifted back to Zahir, taking care not to touch the blight at the center of the room. "From the shot pattern, I'm assuming it was a Cabal slug shotgun."

"So we're really going to have to investigate Cabal too…" Zahir tentatively concluded.

"You're going."

"I am not facing the Cabal. Not after the Red War. You know this, Crucius."

"Are you going to let Lacer and Bronze run into Tivik's crew without you? Haven't you realized? These Fallen are no regular mercenaries. They have an unnatural drive to kill Guardians. You barely survived fighting that Captain and Marauder."

"I know, but… I don't know if I can face them again. The Cabal, I mean."

"Zahir, I don't want you to encounter the Cabal either. Neither of us knows what will happen, but trust me on this. We still don't fully know what Tivik can do, and the sooner we uncover the mystery of his killings, the less guardians will die." Crucius had floated up directly in front of Zahir's face. Zahir saw the yellow light of his helmet reflect back at him on Crucius' eye. A different Zahir called out to him through the reflection, pleading.

"If it means stopping Tivik, then you know I'll do it." Zahir nodded with newfound courage. He was alerted by a call from Eltanin as he began to exit the cave.

"Zahir, good news. I've found reports of orange skiffs travelling around Cabal firebases in the EDZ. You up for it?" Eltanin's hyped voice filled Zahir's helmet.

Zahir wasted no time in his reply. "I'll head there right now. Call Bronze and Lacer for me, please. Tell them to meet me at the outskirts."

"You got it! And be careful, Zahir. You could run into the Legion..."

"Don't worry, I'm done running from my memories. We need to get to the bottom of this mystery above all else." Zahir decared, as Crucius transported him into his ship.

"Which one are we boarding?" Lacer asked, sweeping his vision across the line of skiffs below and to the right of the hill they overlooked. Vandals scrambled about, loading crates and supplies. The setting sun's light was scattered by the shade of Fallen aircraft, shining in patches on the guardians.

"The one at the end. It seems to be the least occupied, and the last thing we need is to be seen." Zahir replied.

"Great, I was hoping to see some action. Y'know, Bronze, I should teach you my magnetic grenade trick some day. Or maybe you'll see it today?"

"Magnetic grenade trick? Consider me interested!" Bronze exclaimed, before being shushed by Zahir.

"They're taking off. Get ready." Zahir silently told the team. They crouched low as the skiffs took off, flying past the hill. As the third skiff past, the titans leapt from their perch and onto the last ship. They held onto the rungs at the top of the ship as it sped off into the EDZ. Wind struck hard against the guardians, but they kept their grips tight. As they ascended, the skiff's cloak swept over its hull, leaving way to a shimmering visage of the ground below.

"We shouldn't have to hold on for long. They can't be going far." Zahir assured his friends, looking down below him. The vastness of the forests overwhelmed his vision. The skiff began to break the clouds.

"Hey, Zahir. Are you gonna be okay? I mean, I'm not saying we will, but we could run into… you know…" Lacer began.

"Cabal. I know, but I'm prepared to do what I need to in order to learn more about Tivik."

"Finally. That's the Zahir I know." Lacer smiled under his helmet. He started to speak again, but was interrupted by the swift noise of metal striking metal. The shrill echo was lost in the wind, but was enough to take everybody's attention.

"What was that?" Bronze asked, as the noise sounded again right beside her. Arc energy began to connect the area between the sounds of the impacts, striking Bronze's arm. She pulled her hand away from the shock, causing her body to swing backward from the loss of support. Another device was planted, stringing arc energy across her other hand. Bronze was forced to let go, and she was flung off of the skiff.

"What's going on?" Zahir thought to himself, watching in horror as his student flew out of sight behind the skiff. Wind rushed past his helmet, filling his ears in a now horrifying deluge. The arc web began to widen as more stakes were put in place. "How could anything survive out here without being stationary?"

Then he saw their attacker. An orange streak flew by his visor, hiding over the edge of the ship.

"Lacer, be careful. I've never seen a Fallen so fast." Zahir called out. The crackling of arc energy began to subside, the traps wearing out.

"I'm aware. He's already gotten me good…" Lacer groaned, clutching a gash on his chest. Blood fell and was immediately carried away by the wind. Zahir whipped his head away from the sight of his friend, searching for the Fallen. The blur began to move again, streaking over to Lacer and planting another stake. Zahir shuffled over, moving his arms across the rungs. He reached for the arc trap, but another was planted, connecting the two and warding his hand away with a jolt of electricity. He was completely separated from Lacer by a line of arc traps.

"Zahir, I have an idea. It seems like he's only targeting me for the time being. One by one, he'll take us off this skiff." Lacer panted, raising his arm. As the blur swept past him again, Lacer grasped an object near a new wound that began to cut across his side. A surprised vandal was revealed, no longer speeding across the top of the skiff, as Lacer had it caught by the blade. Its arms and legs were completely uncovered, and were the source of its speed, as Zahir quickly realized.

"You've got this, Zahir." Lacer nodded as he jerked the screaming, struggling Fallen close.

"Lightbearer! You're insane! Get offa me!" The vandal spat, beating against Lacer's torso behind him.

"Hell no, brother. You're coming down with me!" Lacer released his grip, sending the two sailing off the tail end of the skiff.


	10. Chapter 9

"Miskor! Kill that lightbearer at all costs! Kill him! I'll see you afterwards, I promise! Just get ridda that lightbearer!" Spekris' voice blasted into Miskor's head, filling the Fallen with fright. The frail vandal tapped a claw on the hull of the skiff, restless.

"Spekris… they killed him… they killed Spekris… what do I do?" Miskor clutched his head with his upper hands. Uncertainty filled his mind. "But… I must do it for Tivik. I must ensure that we meet Gourn undetected. That is our mission." He shakily motioned the two other Eliksni in the bay toward the ceiling. They nodded, and began to crawl up after shutting the lights off, plunging the room into darkness.

"Lacer, what's your status?" Zahir demanded, watching the massive forest stream by below him.

No response. Lacer's comms responded with a light crackle. Zahir contemplated his options, still clutching the skiff's roof tight. He had gotten used to the wind blasting against him. The vandal that Lacer had taken off was screaming in Eliksni after yelling at the titan. He had definitely told the other Fallen on the skiff what was going on.

As he reached his conclusion, he heard a feeble metallic whine near his feet. Before he could look over, a thin pair of hands grabbed his ankles and shook, attempting to wrestle him off of the skiff. He fought back against the surprise, kicking at the spindly arms. They retreated, but not before reaching for the hatch.

"I'll fall for sure if I don't stop these guys." Zahir concluded, letting go of the skiff. As he plummeted backward, he took hold of the open hatch, forcing it open. The hatch door broke the ship's cloak, revealing a dark pit in the sky. The hinge began to burst under his weight. He stuck his other arm forward and into the skiff, just as the hinge came loose, bumping against his armor before sailing off into the air. He grimaced and hauled himself inside the dark interior.

"No no no no! He's here, Spekris, he's here!" Miskor whispered, to no answer. He became more and more frightened as he heard the titan gather his bearings. Miskor attempted to calm his breathing as his cloak began to crawl over his body. "I can do this… I must do this… I can do this… I must do this…" He looked around the dark room for his comrades. The telltale flash of blue signalled the activation of their cloaks.

"Over there!" Crucius called, pinging a console at the front of the bay, the only source of light beside the faint orange of the setting sun through the hole in the skiff. Zahir bolted for the screen, already forgetting about the Fallen among him. A sharp pain shot down his back, following the hollow thud of a shrapnel launcher.

Zahir struggled up, drawing his pulse rifle. He let several bursts rattle the hull of the skiff. Frustrated, he began to collect arc energy in his palm.

"Don't!" Crucius yelled, "If you use your light, this skiff's definitely going down!"

"Who said I was throwing a grenade?" Zahir raised his hand high, filling the dark room with light. With newfound vision, he could very faintly see two blurred outlines. With his free hand, he let four bursts off, killing a Vandal. "Shotgun!" Zahir called to Crucius, and he felt its familiar grip replace the rifle in his hand. A buckshot tore into the second vandal, and it screeched in pain as it tumbled to the back of the skiff.

"That's it, then." Zahir concluded, letting Crucius out at the console. Mere seconds after Crucius began his scan, he called out "Crucius! Come back!"

Confused, the ghost disappeared, just as Zahir was knocked aside by an invisible force.

"There was another one… his cloak must be really strong, I couldn't see it." Zahir attempted to pull himself up, but was knocked down by the blasts of a shrapnel launcher. He drew his shotgun, shooting all around the room, but hit nothing.

The shots stopped, lending him time to recover. He slowly stood up, confused, and loaded more shells into his shotgun.

"Why would he stop-" Crucius began, but was interrupted by the whine of several barrels of gas. "Oh."

"Wizard poison…" Zahir groaned, moving forward. "This isn't good, he'll kill us if I don't find him."

"I should have released the gas earlier… the light bearer would be dead by now." Miskor thought, staring from the ceiling. "No matter, though this is my first time. I will succeed, Tivik trusts me. Spekris trusts me." He watched as the titan frantically looked around. "I just have to wait, and swoop in to kill the ghost."

A stray whiff of poison crawled up to Miskor, causing him to choke.

"What? Why am I being afflicted by-" Miskor hastily clawed at his mask. "No no no! I forgot my gas mask!" He began to tremble. "Spekris, I'm sorry! I am a fool!" He shook his head. "No, there is no time to panic, I must adapt if I want to live. The crew is counting on me." He began to inch toward the head of the skiff, covering his mouth. "All I have to do is get the titan off the ship, right?" He slunk down to the console, clutching a lever. "Then I will! If I can't get rid of a single lightbearer, what am I?" He pulled with all his might, and light began to flood the skiff from the troop bay. The air around him began to swirl, pulling him toward the bottom of the skiff. He held the lever tight.

"What?" Zahir exclaimed, being thrust backward by the sudden pull of wind that pulled the poison away. As he was flung toward the light, he saw the faint shimmer of a Fallen figure ahead of him.

Miskor dug a blade into the floor, securing his position. "The lightbearer must be gone by now." He concluded, seeing no trace of the titan behind him. He hauled the lever back up, closing the bay and stopping the wind. He sighed as he brought the blade out. "I did it, Spekris… I did it! I won! I was unable to kill him, but I won!" He activated the lights in the interior of the skiff once more. He saw bullet holes riddling the walls around him as a product of his struggle.

Spekris' static muffled voice finally answered, relieving the Eliksni. "That's good, Miskor. I'm pretty sure I got this under control, but come over here and regroup. I've got the lightbearer trapped in the forest. There's no way he's getting outta this alive." Miskor sighed. Everything would be alright.

As Miskor approached the console, a flash of light behind him caught his eye. He whipped around, and the titan appeared before him, materializing out of thin air. Miskor's body froze in panic.

"You really put me through hell back there, making me kill myself to stay hidden and on the ship." Zahir clutched his regenerating arm, raising it and pointing a newly forming finger at the Eliksni. "All I need to do is kill you, and I'll know exactly where you get your Cabal arms."

Through his fear, Miskor calmed himself with his hope. He would get out of this skiff alive. He would regroup with Spekris, and the crew would be alright. Silence filled the hull, occasionally broken by the wind passing by. His claw darted toward the console as Zahir drew his shotgun. As Miskor made his inputs, the ship lurched forward. Zahir fell forward, past the console that Miskor had held tight to.

"What the hell is he doing?" Zahir asked, his body in a tangle.

"We're beginning to lose altitude. He's making the ship go into a full nosedive downward." Crucius answered.

"We can't let the ship crash, we need to know where it's headed!" Zahir began to float upward, propelled by the shift in speed. He eventually hit the end of the skiff, unable to move. He saw the troop by open once more, and the Eliksni began to crawl out. "Not so fast," he called out, his pulse rifle in hand. He dragged the rifle across the wall, landing a burst near the vandal's chest. Miskor howled in pain and leapt out, leaving Zahir in the falling skiff.


	11. Chapter 10

Lacer felt his body re-enter the world, something he didn't like to admit that he did often. His eyes were laid upon a wide open clearing, surrounded by impossibly tall trees.  
He rubbed his head. "Ugh. That fall must've been rough." He looked around the vegetation, examining each trunk. "That Fallen couldn't have survived that. We gotta catch up to Zahir." He started for Zahir's direction on his sparrow. As he met the edge of the clearing, a previously unseen tripmine blew his sparrow to bits. "What the hell?" He gasped as his back hit the earth. He looked around, noticing an array of previously unseen traps. A blur of movement rushed past the smoking chunks of Lacer's sparrow, arming a new tripmine in the previous trap's place.  
"Are you kiddin' me? He's still alive, but how?" Lacer asked himself, backing up to the center of the clearing and drawing his auto rifle.  
"You'll pay, lightbearer, you're gonna see Darvahk in hell!" Spekris yelled into the clearing from above.

"I don't know who Darvahk is, and I don't care." Lacer looked toward the sound and immediately began shooting at the upper halves of the trees around him, but to no avail.

"It's pointless! None o' those shots are gonna hit me!" The Vandal was now in a dozen places at once, slipping between trees at a rate that Lacer could not keep up with.  
"There's no way he's that fast." Lacer grumbled, "but I'll hit him eventually." He hauled a machine gun to his arms and pulled the bolt. "Eat lead!" Solar rounds tore into bark, creating a flurry of brown and orange. Lacer aimed at every blur he could see, and stopped when he landed a shot. A Fallen fell from its perch, clutching a bullet hole in its chest.  
"I did it!" Lacer pumped his fist. "Wait... why are there still-" he looked around the trees. The storm of movement that surrounded him had not faltered. "Of course. He's not here alone." He realized, watching multiple streaks of orange pass behind the falling Vandal. He looked down at his machine gun. Its holographic projection told him he only had 24 bullets left. "I'm not sure if I can even hitt another with this many bullets."

"Stop! He's movin'!" Spekris called, and the Fallen ceased their movement. Each one drew a wire rifle. "What's he doin'?" Spekris leaned up. The titan began to shoot at the tree trunks in front of him. Tripmines went off left and right. "Hey, hey, hey! Get 'im!" Spekris ordered, prompting a hail of wire rifle shots toward the guardian.

Lacer spread his arms out beside him, forming a fortress of void energy. The arc lines fizzled harmlessly on its hide. Lacer held his pointer finger up at the Fallen and continued to shred the trees in front of him. One final tripmine went off with his last bullet.

"The audacity of- don't let him get away!" Spekris roared. A Vandal to his side nodded, speeding toward the escapee. Lacer anticipated the move, disintegrating his attacker with a punch. "Don't just stand there, go! All of you!" Spekris spat, landing on the clearing and rushing forward.

"There we go." Lacer chuckled, "All I had to do was get you to move in a straight line. The quickest path to me." He turned around, letting loose a hail of rounds from his auto rifle. Spekris was caught head on, and the Eliksni stumbled back as the bullets stopped. "There. Now I'll finish you, ya dumbass!" He brought out his sniper rifle. It glinted in the sun as he focused his scope. He could see Spekris' wounded body clearly, but before he could pull the trigger, he was tackled by a Vandal. He was hoisted up from behind, as another Fallen came to restrain him.

"You sure gave me a lot of trouble, lightbearer." Spekris groaned, leaning forward again. Lacer attempted to raise his rifle, but his hand was torn off by a wire rifle. "Now, let's see if yer ghost'll survive." He procured a Cabal slug shotgun from his back, and tapped its barrel menacingly.

"Zahir was right," Lacer thought, "it's the slug shotguns. That's how they kill ghosts." He struggled against his grapplers but to no avail. "Just a few more shots would've killed this sucker." He watched at least a dozen Vandals swarm around him.

"Kill 'im." Spekris commanded. A Vandal to his side began to wind up its rifle, cackling. One final shot ripped through Lacer's helmet, shattering the visor, and he hung limp. His ghost reluctantly showed herself, floating from behind his body.

"Coming through!" A voice sang from above. Bronze came crashing down to the forest floor, vaporizing the entire group of Fallen with her arc light. "Thanks for giving me the idea of climbing the trees." She began to revive Lacer and put a thumbs up toward a stumbling Spekris, still dazed from the attack.

"It's that other one from earlier… I was takin' just a bit too long…" Spekris breathed heavily as he thought, "Just a bit longer, and I woulda had him."

"It's over." Lacer drew his rifle. "Now tell us everything you know about Tivik. Bronze raised her scout rifle as well.

Spekris' eyes flared in anger. "Y'THINK I'LL SELL OUT MY CREW?! MY FAMILY!? I'D RATHER DIE! Just the thought o' that pisses me off! You'll never reach Tivik! You'll never learn anything!" He activated a device on his hip, and arc energy began to flow over him.

"Hey, hey!" Lacer began to shoot, but his shots bounced harmlessly off the arc shield.

"Miskor and I are gettin' the hell outta here. We're gonna survive." The Eliksni muttered as he bolted away, disappearing into the trees. "Miskor! Miskor! What's your status? Where are you?"

"Spekris," the younger Eliksni shakily whispered, "I'm almost to Tivik…"

"Speak up, crab face!" Spekris spat, heaving as he ran. He hastily wrapped his bullet wounds in bandages.

"I can't… the lightbearer is looking for me, and my cloak will wear off soon… Spekris, please," he began to whimper, "I don't know what to do. Help me!"

"Trust your instincts, Miskor. You're gonna survive. We all are, and we're gonna teach these guys a lesson for killing Darvahk. You hear me?"

"Yes, Spekris. You're absolutely right. I'll trust my own judgement and get out of here. I can-" Miskor paused as a shimmer warped down his body. His cloaking was gone. He stood at the edge of the forest, at the top of a hill. He worriedly looked behind him. The lightbearer was in there. He was sure of it. But how had he been tracked so far?

"But Spekris, I just don't understand… I did everything in my power to keep him away, so why," his eyes widened in horror as he saw the guardian break through the thick cover of branches that separated them like a plow. The sun's fading light brought the orange of his armor out. "Why is he here? How did he follow me?" He looked around the ground, and his chest sank as he saw the breadcrumbs he had left. A trail of ether snaked from the forest to a leaking tube on his helmet.

"Miskor? What's wrong? Answer me!" Spekris demanded, before being cut off.

"I will atone for my own mistakes. Perhaps fate had it so that we would meet here." Miskor kept his head down, staring at the puddles of ether below him. "I will do everything I can to win. To see my family again. I am through with making mistakes, starting now!" Miskor began to backpedal, disappearing behind the hill after letting loose a couple of shots from his shrapnel launcher.

"This is definitely a trap." Crucius cautioned as Zahir stormed forward.

"I'm aware, but look. I already have the information I need." Zahir pointed off in the distance as he walked. A small Cabal outpost stood in a small valley. He could barely make out the figure of an uncloaking skiff above it.

"Then let's go there."

"Not yet. This Fallen's dangerous to us. We can't let him live." Zahir stated apathetically.

"Miskor! Disengage! Run! You won't survive!" Spekris' words painfully hammered into Miskor.

"Not yet. This lightbearer is too dangerous to be left alive. I will do all I can to ensure Tivik gets what he needs." Miskor took a deep, determined breath as his cloak refreshed. As the titan came over the hill, he leapt up, dragging the guardian to the ground. Miskor aimed his shrapnel launcher at the titan's held his shrapnel launcher in one hand, and a Cabal slug shotgun in a free hand. With his lower arms, he pinned Zahir's. "The lightbearer can't bring his arc charged fists down if I do this. I've won." Miskor sighed as ether continued to drip from his mask. "Now, die." He shot his shrapnel launcher at the titan's head as fast as he could. Two blasts destroyed the helmet, and a third warped the exo's face.

"I won't die. Not before I reach Tivik." Zahir brought an arc infused foot down, which he had raised as he was pinned. An explosion of arc energy flung Miskor over him and into a tree. Zahir stood up, his helmet shattered and his head a mess of twisted metal.

Miskor watched the small remaining sliver of the sun set on the damaged titan from his flipped perspective. "This lightbearer… he can't possibly be so resilient… my execution methods have been flawless, until-" Miskor's body tumbled from the tree onto the dirt. "Spekris, forgive me for making so many mistakes," he whispered, "but I didn't die a coward. I made you proud, did I not?" His eyes closed to the sight of Zahir clutching his regenerating head.

"Miskor! Come in! Miskor!" Spekris stumbled to a stop as he exited the forest. Moonlight washed over the Eliksni as he looked to the sky. "They got him. That stupid kid… he died scared and alone. Why'd you have to go out today…?" He raised a claw to his chest. "Don't worry, Miskor. I won't forget this." He closed his hand. "They'll pay."


	12. Chapter 11

Spekris waded through the trashed lair, looking around with squinted eyes. Bullet holes riddled the walls, and dead Eliksni were strewn around the floor.

"Shame. Pretty sure we hid out here a couple times." He dug his claws around a cache, took out an ether canister, and stuffed it into his bag. "Those lightbearers really tore the place up." He grumbled and began to walk out, but was stopped by a noise coming from a nearby room.

"Spekris! Report!" His captain's voice boomed from the outside.

"Almost done, boss, just gotta check this noise out." He brought a shock rifle out and slowly approached the room. He revolted at the sight he entered to. A thin, young Eliksni tugged at the leg of a deceased Vandal, whose head was completely gone.

"Holy crap, it's a kid." Spekris put his weapon away and approached the child with a hand out. "C'mon, we've gotta get you out of here."

The child shied away, holding its dead parent's leg tight.

"Kid, your pop's dead! Let's go." Spekris impatiently yelled. The child closed all four eyes, unwilling to accept the truth.

Spekris had never been one to deal with children, but he knew what this Eliksni must have been thinking. With all the patience he could muster, he coaxed again. "C'mere, you look like you're starved." Spekris produced the ether tank he had scavenged earlier and began to prepare it. The promise of nourishment brought the child out of his haze, and he finally realized the situation he was in.

"No use staying here. I'll bring you to my captain, c'mon." Spekris took the child's hand as he began to replenish himself. "You got a name, kid?"

The child shook his head.

"Alright, what about…" Spekris looked around, thinking. "Miskor. How's that?"

The three titans watched as an unlikely trade took place. Cabal legionaries moved like a well oiled machine, loading crate after crate onto Tivik's skiffs. A large centurion received glimmer from Tivik himself, whose eyes glared bright in the dead of the night.

Tivik's imposing figure filled their eyes. Each move he made was slow and with purpose. His right arm was stacked with several warlock bonds, some particularly fresh. Tivik turned around to address his crew, revealing a mass of hunter capes stitched together, painted red orange, like his other banners. Similarly colored was a row of titan marks hanging from his belt.

"Disgusting. We were right." Zahir said, lifting his head from Lacer's sniper rifle. "They're definitely exchanging weapons." He looked again, and his aim drifted to the Cabal.

"It definitely ain't like the Fallen to trade instead of steal." Lacer crossed his arms.

"I'm scanning a lot of slug shotguns in those crates." Crucius commented.

"Yep, Jolt here was almost killed by one." Lacer poked at his ghost, who disappeared in response.

"Ghosts are tough, but those slugs could definitely damage us at the least before we rez. Even worse in places our light is weak, such as areas covered in wizard poison..." Crucius continued, staring at the trade. As the ghost finished his observation, Zahir brought his fist down on the rock that was their cover, to the attention of his team.

"What's up, Zahir?" Bronze asked, casting a look at Lacer, who seemed just as confused.

"Uh oh." Crucius floated in front of Zahir. Beneath his helmet, his eyes flared.

Visions assaulted his senses. Everything around him was consumed by flame. He watched as his lightless fireteam struggled against an onslaught of Cabal. He remembered now. He had buried the memory deep in his mind, but the fall of his fireteam came back to him. He had just rounded a street corner to see his friends begin to be overwhelmed by Red Legion. They advanced like a storm, covering the space between them with slugs. The hunter Kale-8 fell first, followed by the warlock Heather. He reached out to his friends, but his mind sucked him into another vignette. Vira, a member of his scout team, cast off his robes to unpin himself from a rock. As he returned fire at a street filled with Red Legion, his body began to fall as it was riddled with holes.

Then he was carrying Eltanin through the EDZ. She clutched her destroyed ghost in her hand. Zahir looked down to her bloody, mangled legs, and his vision blacked out.

"I promised I'd avenge them." He thought, as he was pulled out of his memories, "so what am I doing here? Instead of fulfilling that?" He stood up from cover, and began to march toward the firebase.

"Hey, hey, Zahir! What are you doing? This was supposed to be an intel run! Well, I guess not after what happened with those assassins, but we can deal with…" he had Jolt scan the centurion. "We can deal with Bracus Gourn and Tivik later! Stop!"

Zahir didn't listen, and launched into a sprint. He hadn't faced the Cabal since the Red War, but he felt he had to answer to his own promise before his fear.

"Well, if he's going, I'll have some fun, too!" Bronze leapt up, trailing behind her teacher.

"Oh for- c'mon! Just think this through for a second! Yeah, they're all in one place, but we know how dangerous Tivik's crew is, especially the big guy himself! You always told me, we've gotta divide and conquer!" Lacer emphasized his last few words by clapping his hands. Still, his pleads fell upon deaf ears. He begrudgingly ran after the two. "Zahir, since you've already started a battle, do you mind if I turn your attention from the Cabal to Tivik?"

"I know, but the Cabal are-" Zahir started.

"Forget them! Our target is right in front of you! The Guardian Killer! Go! We'll hold back the Cabal."

"Fine."

"Guardians approach. What have you done?" Gourn asked, sticking a finger at Tivik's chest.

"I am not sure, my assassins should have taken care of them. Tivik tapped his helmet. "Miskor! What happened?"

No response. Tivik's heart quickened.

"Spekris! Status!" Tivik breathed a sigh of relief as he heard a scramble in his ears.

"Boss! These lightbearers are just too lucky. I had one of em, but his friend interrupted me, and I had to get away!" Spekris hastily explained. "I got shot up real bad. I took almost a whole clip of bullets."

"Was it the orange titan?"

"No… Miskor went after him, but, something went wrong. He's dead." Tivik heard the pain in Spekris' voice.

"Call a skiff. You have done enough." Tivik took a look at the titans. "So, these are the lightbearers that killed Darvahk and Miskor." He motioned to Gourn. "I suggest we retreat. I am not suited to head on combat. I do not duel, I trap."

Noxis crawled up beside Tivik. "It would not help to lose Gourn's business by leaving this to him. We must aid him."

"But Noxis! We are sending our crew to their deaths if we-"

"What have I told you, fool? The death of our comrades is inevitable in our struggle. We will give them three skiffs of Eliksni, and that is final. I will support as well. The sooner these lightbearers die, the better off we are." He did not let Tivik speak up. "Go! You must survive." Noxis went away to explain the situation to Gourn.

"Victory or death. That is the Cabal way." Gourn accepted the offer. "All troops! Advance! Kill the guardians!" The centurion raised his fist, bronto cannon in hand, and sped off.

"Typical of the Cabal. It will be a shame if Gourn dies, though." Tivik looked back at the brewing battle as he walked toward his skiff. The three others began to spill Fallen troops. They were all heading to their deaths, but Noxis was right. It would he best to kill his pursuers here. He forced himself to look away, and was surprised to see a titan speeding around his right flank on a sparrow.

Zahir braced himself. He was at the perfect angle. "You sure these tunnels are that deep?" He asked Crucius, who only blipped in response. "All right, then." He launched himself off of his sparrow, coating himself in arc energy. A sudden burst of speed launched him forward and into the surprised Fallen. He wrapped his arms around what he could of Tivik's torso, and propelled the both of them toward a Cabal mining pit. They plummeted far, far down.

"Do you think he'll kill Tivik?" Bronze asked taking cover beside Lacer against the battalion of Cabal.

"It may be a bit difficult in a tight space like that, but he'll be fine. Let's get past these Cabal so we can help him." Lacer peeked over with his sniper rifle, noticing the massive swarm of Fallen joining the fight. "Okay, on second thought, we may have a lot more trouble than we bargained for."

"I must escape." Tivik grunted, hauling himself up from a pile of rubble. He saw his escape, the light leading to the mouth of the tunnel he had been carried through. With all of his strength, he began to crawl up the stone.

"You aren't going anywhere." Zahir brought out a rocket launcher. He aimed up high above Tivik, and let loose. Rocks dislodged from the wall and onto the escaping Fallen, causing him to fall back to the ground.

"I don't know if you remember me, or if you even understand me, but I believe we've met before." Zahir glared at Tivik, who had begun to stand again. "I blew that leg off, while you were still making a name for yourself." He pointed at Tivik's covered mechanical leg.

"It is you… only you would know of that." Tivik brought gas canisters out of his bandolier, staring right back at the titan.


	13. Chapter 12

Lacer started another magazine of his auto rifle. After taking out a legionary, he was immediately pelted by projectiles, both Fallen and Cabal.

"Ugh! There's just too many!" He grunted as he ducked down.

"I'm ready. I can feel it!" Bronze said, raising her fist. Sparks of energy jumped off of her knuckles.

"Heh, all right. Let's do it!"

Bronze leapt up from cover. She saw dozens of Red Legion and Tivik's crew below her. At the apex of her jump, she rocketed downward, propelled by arc light. She landed, and heard the cries of many enemies being obliterated by her fist of havoc. Lacer followed, creating a ward of dawn around the impact.

"Let's see what we've got." Lacer looked around his safe zone. "Geez, we barely put a dent in them." Bronze had taken many enemies out, but a seemingly endless wall of Fallen and Cabal continued to advance. "Looks like Zahir'll be on his own for a while."

"I commend you for having the foresight to push me into a place I can't run from, but an enclosed space like this is favorable for me, as well." Tivik's voice boomed throughout the cavern as several poison canisters burst. The gas began to crawl around the ground.

Zahir was now prepared for poison. He finished loading his rocket launcher, and let another fly to the ground. It blasted apart the rock several feet in front of him.

Tivik looked confounded for a moment, but he realized he was not the target of the explosive. The rocket's blast had swept most of the poison upward, clearing Zahir of the inhibiting weapon. He raised his pulse rifle and began to shoot.

The Guardian Killer grunted as his shields were worn down. He hauled his wire rifle out and took aim.

"There we go." Zahir chucked a grenade underhand. Tivik's shield was destroyed, and wire rifle jolted up. The bolt flew high above the titan, who swapped his pulse rifle for a shotgun, and charged straight forward. One buckshot dug into Tivik's torso, and the Fallen grunted in annoyance. Another shot had him roaring in pain as the pellets began to break his armor. Before a third went in, Tivik struck Zahir with his two left arms, sending the guardian flying into a wall.

"This guardian…" Tivik thought, "I used too many. I only have three canisters left." He frustratingly clawed at his bandolier as the titan recovered. "I assume he still carries ammunition for his rocket launcher. In that case, I must adapt!" Tivik threw down one canister, coating himself in poison. Zahir fired his rocket launcher again, but the gas cleared to reveal nothing.

Zahir barely noticed a large shadow above him as he was struck from above. Tivik rammed the titan's head into the ground with one arm, and began to wind up his wire rifle. Zahir had already burned his arc energy to drag Tivik into the cave, but he had one tool left. He reached behind his back and pulled the trigger on his stowed rocket launcher, killing him and hurling the Guardian Killer away.

"The nerve of this lightbearer! I knew getting close would be the end of me." Tivik coughed while stopping an ether leak with one of his hands. "I am out of options." He threw his last two gas canisters at his feet as the guardian's ghost expanded.

Zahir came back, ready for action, but Tivik had disappeared without a trace.

"Where did he go? Where the hell did he go?" Zahir scrambled forward, swiping at the gas with his hands. "Show yourself, coward!"

"He completely disappeared from the radar." Crucius sounded confused. "Calm down. You were acting reckless. Did you really expect to win? You could have died your final death."

"If it meant killing Tivik, I would gladly have done it."

"Listen to yourself. This isn't you. You would never willingly let your friends go through that."

Crucius stopped Zahir before he could speak. "Let's head back. Lacer and Bronze could be in trouble."

"Man, this really sucks." Lacer complained, punching a vandal away from him. He sprayed down two legionaries with his auto rifle, then switched to his machine gun. Their enemies had swarmed around their cover. Bronze fought fiercely next to him. She was a tornado of arc, spinning around to meet her foes as quickly as possible with her fists.

"We're gonna have to pull back or something. They won't stop coming till we're dead for good." Lacer completely emptied his machine gun.

"Yeah, I'm starting to tire out. There's a ton of these guys." Bronze yelled in frustration, and the Cabal in front of her were consumed by a web of lightning.

"Woah, did you do that?" Lacer asked, as the vandals beside him were annihilated by the same chain of arc light.

"Uh, I don't think so?" Bronze looked at her normal, gloved hands.

"Oh, what the hell, it's a warlock!" Lacer pointed over their cover. Their rescuer swept across the beach, evaporating Fallen and Cabal alike by the masses. The network of electrocution he created swept around him, catching any staggering legionary or wandering vandal in his path.

The warlock turned his head as his assault continued. "Titan! Now's your chance to rid this world of Bracus Gourn! Go!"

"Uh, when you put it that way, sure! Let's go!" Lacer took his sniper rifle from his back and took careful aim at the surprised centurion.

"I'll help, too!" Bronze went aside Lacer with her scout rifle out.

"These insufferable guardians. I'll smash them flat." Gourn aimed at the destructive warlock with his bronto cannon. Void energy began to collect at its barrel, and he let one shot loose, causing the warlock to tumble over. "Who will you pursue, guardian, my troops, or me? You will die either way."

"You really are simple minded. You forgot about the others already?" The warlock chided, as sniper and scout rifle rounds made their way into Gourn's helmet. The warlock nodded and went on, finishing the last of the small interspecies army as his stormtrance fizzled out. As Gourn continued to stagger from the volume of bullets he took, the warlock aimed a fusion rifle at the centurion's head.

"Don't stop." He ordered, as a volley of blue bolts escaped his gun and shattered the side of Gourn's helmet, revealing the Cabal's wrinkled head. "Keep suffering in the hell of a hundred high caliber rounds."

"Gotcha!" Lacer lined the Cabal flesh up in his scope and fired one last shot that pierced Gourn's head. The centurion stumbled backward and dropped dead, the weight of his fall shaking the ground around him.

"There you all are." Zahir emerged from the tunnel and rushed over to Lacer and Bronze.

"You're back!" Bronze looked over and began to run. "Did you kill Tivik?"

"No, he got away. I couldn't learn anything…" Zahir frustratedly looked down at his side.

"Hey, you made it out alive." Lacer slapped Zahir on the shoulder. "This warlock over here helped us take down Gourn. Would've been tough without him, but Tivik won't be getting any large shipments of Cabal weapons for a while. Hey, why don't you introduce yourself?" He motioned the warlock over.

The distracted warlock glanced over at the trio. As if it was troublesome to do so, he spoke. "I suppose I should. I am Phoros-5, and I am after the same Eliksni murderer as you."

Every joint in Zahir's body tensed up at the name. "Did I… hear that name right?" He slowly looked up at the dark blue robed guardian.

"You did, though I haven't met you before. Are you of the Vanguard?"

"You're lying. Why would someone like you be after Tivik?" He raised his rifle at Phoros, shocking Lacer and Bronze. His voice turned harsh. "You know what you did. You're an exile, and for good reason."

"What are you talking about?" Lacer spread his arms out and moved in front of Phoros. Bronze stood between the two sides, nervously looking back and forth.

"What am I talking about? Allow me to fill you in. Crucius, run the report to them." Zahir kept his gun raised. His head began to pound in deafening anger.

"It may take a minute or two, it's a fairly old file." Crucius began to search his memory. Zahir kept Phoros at the other end of his pulse rifle's barrel the whole time, who looked rather bored.

"Got it.

VANGUARD INVESTIGATION REPORT

SUBJECT: WARLOCK PHOROS-5

SOURCES: WARLOCK ELTANIN, MEMBERS OF PHOROS-5'S STRIKE TEAM, PHOROS-5'S PERSONAL NOTES (ATTACHED BELOW)

PREVIOUS MENTOR (PHOROS-5)'S NOTES:-Eltanin seems to have an affinity for solar light. As an opponent of the teachings of the Praxic, I will be conditioning her to use arc energy. Will consult her ghost.

-She is skilled with most primaries, but she has difficulty handling auto rifles. This presents a clear issue in her combat capability.-Despite my teachings, she does not seem to be able to sustain herself in battle nearly as long as I expect. Her armor is less than stellar, but I expect more when fighting small Fallen gangs.

Investigation:

Four months after being assigned as Eltanin's mentor, we learned that the warlock Phoros-5 was taking most of their pay for himself, as evident by their mission history and glimmer accounts. After interviewing Phoros-5's most previous strike team members and Eltanin herself, we learned the following: When she did something wrong in the slightest, he would yell at her and attack her, dismissing his actions with the fact that guardians can regenerate pain.

VERDICT:

Looking at the interviews, along with the collected notes on his student, we saw his actions as a blatant misuse of power and promptly exiled him from the city. Due to a lack of warlocks open to take in a student, Eltanin was assigned to the titan Zahir-2."


	14. Chapter 13

"I can't believe this guy was in charge of Eltanin for four freakin' months. What the hell?" Lacer leaned his hand against his helmet as the report ran by.

"Eltanin…" Bronze looked up at Phoros, who had his arms crossed.

"Ah, Eltanin. That warlock I trained. So that child is what this is all about." Phoros tapped his foot.

"You didn't train her one bit." Zahir's grip on his rifle tightened.

"Where is she, anyway? I would think she'd be fighting with you. Though, I guess her absence is for the better. I imagine she holds a grudge." Phoros looked around.

Zahir visibly recoiled. "That… doesn't matter. What matters is why you're here."

"Let me guess. She lost her light in the war? I thought she would go down one day, it was only a matter of how." Phoros stepped forward. "Anyway, she is not of my concern. We-"

"Hey!" Zahir fired a warning shot at Phoros' approaching feet.

"Enough, titan. We need to focus on the Guardian Killer." The warlock looked annoyed.

"Like hell I'm cooperating with you." Zahir pulled the trigger again, but was staggered by Phoros drawing his hand cannon quickly and firing.

"Aw, yeah! Kick his ass, boss!." Lacer pumped his fist in excitement as Zahir stood, the hole in his chest still smoking.

"I said enough." Phoros pointed his hand cannon higher. "The next one's going into your head."

Zahir didn't listen. He hurled a grenade at the warlock, firing as he strafed aside. Phoros dodged and grunted in annoyance as two bursts dug into him. He plunged his hand to the ground, willing a ring of light to flow around him. He stood firm as the light crawled up to his wounds, healing him and causing the rest of Zahir's magazine to bounce harmlessly off of his robes. He unstrapped his fusion rifle and began to charge. Zahir quickly changed tactics and began to charge with his shotgun, but was struck by several arc bolts and evaporated before he could shoot.

"Now, will you pipe down and listen? I think we both have valuable information for each other." Phoros kept his fusion rifle pointed up as the titan regenerated.

Zahir flinched. "Information…" He looked over at his tense team, contemplating. Afteran extended silence, he reluctantly asked, "What do you know?"

"Put down your weapon."

"Tch, fine." Zahir let his rifle clatter to the ground. This surprised Lacer and Bronze.

"Right. I began investigating Tivik just a few weeks ago. I was roaming around the EDZ, when I discovered a curious knife plunged into the dirt in a cave, inscribed with the Guardian Killer's name. I began to track down any Fallen with connections to Tivik, and I eventually came upon a dreg from the House of Dusk, who had armed his walker with Hive poison. After looking into interspecies trade, I was led to your comrades. It seems these knives are popping up at random, but you seek to be the first guardians to take up the clue. Before I came here, I was looking into the possibility that Tivik employs Vex tech in his traps, though I'm unsure how."

"As far as I know, we are the only Vanguard to be hunting Tivik, and that seems to line up with what we know, after facing Tivik's assassins. Come to think of it, he completely vanished when I fought him in that tunnel earlier. That could be the work of a Vex portal. Do you have anything else?"

"Hey, hold on." Bronze took a step toward the two. "Why would you cooperate with him, of all people?" She pointed at Phoros, who seemed quite annoyed at the young titan. "You know what he did, probably more than us, so why would you even be talking with him?" Her breath was shaky, and she sounded scared.

"Bronze, it's circumstance. Sometimes, you have to affiliate with certain people…" Zahir attempted to justify himself.

"But this guy hurt Eltanin. How could you do this to her? I know I would feel betrayed." She stepped away. "I… don't want to be a part of this. It just doesn't feel right." She turned around.

"Bronze, wait! This is the only way we'll-"

"There are other ways that don't include talking to a guy like that!" She pulled her ghost out. "I'm going. You said I wasn't cut out for this anyway." She disappeared into orbit before Zahir could attempt to reason again. He watched as the last clear streams of her body melted into the thick air.

"Lacer?" Zahir kept his head pointed at the sky, imagining Bronze's ship taking off in his mind.

The other titan raised his hands to his shoulders. "I, uh, don't feel good about this either. I know I've told you stuff like: I'll follow you to the darkest, dirtiest places our enemies've got, but this dude's a whole nother can of worms I don't want to touch with a ten foot stick, and now you're acting all buddy buddy with him? You know, just from reading this report, I can tell I sure as hell don't wanna trust him. Sorry, boss, I'm out." He turned tail as well, walking away casually.

"I" Zahir watched as Lacer disappeared as well, leaving him feeling alone.

Phoros crossed his arms. "Are we finally ready to negotiate?"

"I'll… have to think about it."

"I'm home." Zahir opened the door to see a disappointed Eltanin waiting for him. "What?" A lump formed in his throat.

"I'm ready to give you a status update after Gourn is killed, and what do I hear on the comms? You're talking to Phoros, and you're just casually exchanging information?"

"Eltanin, I-"

"You know what he did to me."

"I decided not to work with him in the end, anyway. It's fine."

"And it took your entire team leaving for you to see what was wrong with what you were doing."

"It's not what you think."

"It's exactly what I think!" Eltanin stomped her foot, startling Zahir. He had never seen her as emotional as she was now. "You were trying to kill him one minute, and the next you're exchanging information like nothing happened. What was going on? This isn't like you." She began to tear up, and her voice swelled.

"I realized that he could help us beat Tivik. I couldn't just pass that up."

She scoffed. "All you want to do is find Tivik, right? Then do what you want. You don't seem to care about anything else, anyway." She pushed a file into his hands and dropped her head before brushing past him and out the door, wiping her eyes as she walked away. Her crutches hitting the concrete sent shockwaves through Zahir's head.

"You know, she's kind of right." Crucius spoke to Zahir from his invisible refuge. "I've noticed you've been neglecting and ignoring her, I just wasn't sure what to say about it."

Zahir began to walk toward the door.

"Hey, I'd leave her alone for a bit. "Crucius cautioned.

"No, I've got to fix this. Eltanin, wait." Zahir dropped the envelope and rushed after her. He put a hand on her shoulder once he caught up. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight, and I-"

"Don't talk to me." She whispered, and the exo's hand slid off her back. He watched until she disappeared into her workplace, a library by the name of the Red Dome.

"Come on, Zahir. We have work to-" Crucius began.

"You could have warned me."

"Huh?"

"You should have said something." He held up his hand and forced his ghost out. "Look where we are, now. You're too… never mind." He pushed Crucius away.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving for a bit. Get me my ship."

"Alright, but I'm not leaving you alone. I'm your ghost. I'm supposed to stick with you until the end." Crucius hovered over to the titan, but was pushed back again. It took the bewildered ghost a moment to respond, "Why?"

"You're not coming with me, because I don't know what I'll do if you do." Zahir warned, looking away as he was transmatted away.

"Rough day, rough day, rough day." Lacer jabbed his fist at a wall, but stopped himself. "Right. The drywall." He slumped over on a chair and reached for a remote. As he began watching a televised Crucible match, his line rang.

"Hey, Lacer. I'm screwing around on Nessus, and I just saw this huge Fallen with orange banners crawling around!" Ascella the hunter hurriedly briefed.

"No way. Is he wearing anything crazy?"

"Yeah, his arm is covered in warlock bonds, and I think he's wearing hunter capes. Is this the Fallen you're looking for?"

"Hell yeah it is. I'll get everyone and be there ASAP. Thanks." Lacer sat up quickly as he dialed a number.

"Lacer?" Eltanin sheepishly answered.

"Eltanin! We've got reports of Tivik on Nessus by the scout team, and, hold on, were you crying? Something good happen?"

"No, the opposite. I want to take a break from this whole thing for a while. Goodbye."

"Hey, wait!" Eltanin had ended the call. Lacer sighed. "Guess she knows. Zahir probably ain't coming either, then, and Bronze definitely won't." He yawned. "Hey Jolt, tell Ascella I'm comin' alone."

"Spekris, what happened?" Noxis asked, leaning up out of his seat as the vandal stumbled into the ketch's bay.

"I took a whole mag of bullets. I'm gonna bleed out, so help me, old man." He stumbled over into Noxis' arm, who walked Spekris to an ether tank. "Those brutes killed Miskor. They got Miskor." His chest heaved as ether flowed into him. "I'm gonna kill 'em, if it's the last thing I do."

"No, you will not be in any condition to fight for some time. You must rest."

"But I-" Spekris coughed. "Wanna get them back for Miskor. I raised that runt myself, you know. I never got to tell 'im, y'know, how… what's the word? Proud, I guess, proud I was. He went out scared and alone. I just don't get how these lightbearers were able to get ahead of us. If they didn't know about the poison, we would've got 'em. If Darvahk had just killed that sucker back then, we wouldn't have this problem." He slumped his head. "That's it, ain't it? It all comes down to that titan. That damned titan, it's all his fault. We're in more and more trouble the longer he lives. We're all gonna die, but I guess that's what I signed up for, heh."

"Fool! You have never been this hopeless in all the time I've known you. Listen to me. Tivik is scheming against them. He will adapt. No matter how strange the terrain gets on the path to glory, he will rise above humanity, because that is what I trained him to do. To grant the Eliksni, through the death of all of the current lightbearers, the gift of light we deserved from the beginning! Before the whirlwind!" Noxis raised a fist. "Worry not, Spekris, you will get your revenge through our leader. Continue to put your trust in him. Once we are rid of the titan's team, Miskor and Darvahk will be at rest."

"I know. I've got no problem trustin' Tivik. Guy's a total badass."

Noxis paced around. "Tivik jumped to Nessus. I will accompany him back to the Ketch. Inform Dreliks of our situation once you are in the medical bay while I gather the flight crew." Noxis took heavy steps toward the interior of the ketch as its massive ramp closed, his footfalls soon joined by the vandal's staggered walk.


	15. Chapter 14

"Oh, holy crap." Lacer watched as Tivik wrestled his arm through the chest of a giant minotaur, hundreds of feet above them atop a Vex spire. The foreboding maw of the Leviathan captured the spectacle.

"Man, that guy's a tough one, isn't he?" Ascella asked in awe, her hands at her hips.

"You have no idea. C'mon, we're going up there." Lacer motioned the hunter over. "Zahir was almost able to kill Tivik earlier, so with two of us, we should be fine."

"Really? I mean, of course we can! But isn't he really strong?" The two began to scale the steep Vex architecture.

"It'll be fine! This dude's all about trapping guardians, not fighting them in the open like this." Lacer caught a goblin above him by the leg and flung it away. "I mean, we still have no clue how he sets 'em up, but we know about the poison and how he kills ghosts."

"Explain." Ascella plunged her knife into the milky stomach of a hobgoblin. Its red eye dimmed as it slumped harmlessly against the spire.

"Well, we know that when he gets his target to the blight, he uses the Taken energy and the Hive poison he bottles up to make sure the guardian's more helpless than a fish outta water. Then, when he shoots em down, he destroys the ghost with a Cabal slug shotgun. It's quick and easy because the ghost's trapped in a whole lot of darkness. Real gruesome, real dirty. That's why we gotta find out how he gets folks to the blights in the first place. Though, I think I have a good idea now." He looked up at the top of the spire, still a few tens of meters above. "He must've used Vex tech to teleport away from Zahir, and all the way to Nessus. It's the only way he could've gotten away, and it explains why he's alone."

"Where's Zahir and his cute little student, anyway? And we could use Eltanin for intel." Ascella heaved herself up another level.

"Uh, about that…" Lacer held up a finger. "Y'know what? Just have your ghost read ya this."

"Urgh!" Tivik breathed heavily, sliding his claws over a device. The minotaur before him fell to the ground, its imposing shadow receding. "Noxis, will you be here soon?"

"We are travelling as fast as possible. Settle down! It is your fault for not being able to kill that guardian!"

"The situation was not ideal."

"That is why I have told you time and time again: you must adapt! The fall of Darvahk was the beginning of the end. Make sure it is not our end."

Tivik looked down over the tip of the spire. "Those guardians again… and," He heard the crackling sounds of Vex teleportation. Another massive minotaur's legs began to assemble themselves before him. "I've spent all my energy, this isn't good. Those guardians will be at the top of the spire soon."

"Lemme go first, Lacer." Ascella threw her arm up and pulled herself over the top. "Uh… Lacer!" She began firing her hand cannon. "Tivik isn't here, but-" Lacer watched as she was flung over the edge. "There's another minotaur! I'll climb back up as fast as I can!" She broke her fall with a double jump and gave a thumbs-up to Lacer as she met the ground.

"All right, buddy, square up." Lacer hoisted himself atop the spire. His opponent looked down upon him with its single red eye. It immediately pointed its torch hammer at the titan and fired. Lacer backpedalled, hiding behind a small pillar to shield himself from the void explosions. He looked to his side to see Tivik crawling down the spire.

"I'd want to go after him, but this minotaur's really pissing me off." Lacer looked over at the other minotaur's corpse, "I gotta find out what the hell's going on here, but Tivik is... Agh!" He forced himself to push Tivik away. He peeked out again, and was surprised to see the minotaur waiting with its arm over its head. It struck Lacer, who had begun to jump away. The titan sailed past the edge, but caught onto a stray metal bar on the Vex platform.

"Man, I"- Lacer was pulled over by the minotaur. It opened its claw and pinned Lacer to the ground, beginning to bombard him. "Oh, cut it out!" He spread his arms out, enveloping him and the entirety of the crouching colossal Vex in void energy. "Ascella, get up here!" He groaned, struggling against the claw as he punched the minotaur's chest. His ward of dawn's empowerment would only prolong his death.

"Almost there! I'll give you a shadowshot in the meantime!" She called out.

"No! I've got a bubble down, it won't work! Just hurry!" Lacer looked over to the side of the spire. A hand reached over and grasped the edge of the small platform. "Hey, that was quick." He sighed in relief, but revolted when he saw that his rescuer was not Ascella, but a warlock.

Phoros marched over to the inside of Lacer's dome and brought a grenade launcher into his hands. "What a primitive way to dispose of a minotaur." He remarked, blowing the minotaur's outstretched arm apart and releasing Lacer. "Aegeus, Transported Mind. Interesting target, Guardian Killer." Phoros shot another grenade. Lacer fell to the ground and coughed as his crushed chest began to regenerate.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Lacer pulled himself to his feet as the minotaur continued to be pelted by explosives.

"Was that a rhetorical question? I'm here because Tivik is here." Phoros stowed his empty weapon. "Run, titan. Push Aegeus while he's stunned." He bolted toward the recoiling Vex.

"Agh, fine." Lacer ran beside the warlock. Aegeus let out a shrill screech that pierced the duo's ears as it raised its foot. "Shit, get back!" He yelled, but it was too late. A shockwave spread across the ground, launching the guardians away from the minotaur and far past the top of the spire that was their small arena. "Are you kidding me? We gotta climb all the way back up?"

"No. Our efforts were not in vain. Aegeus knocked the other minotaur's corpse loose." Phoros pointed to the falling collection of metal limbs below them. "We can now examine what Tivik did to it."

"Screw that! I'm coming, Ascella!" Lacer boosted himself back toward the spire, landing about halfway up its length.

Phoros knelt by the dirt covered minotaur. He brushed aside a collection of loose metal shards, revealing a ghastly hole through its chest. He reached behind his head, and his hand came back over with a silent ghost in its grasp. The ghost promptly scanned the hole.

"Teleportation module. I see. This all but confirms it! The reason every single one of his targets is found at a blight is because Tivik transports his target there!"

The ghost in the warlock's hand slowly turned to peer at him. "Phoros… I have one question. Why are you hunting the Guardian Killer?"

"I do not wish to disclose that. Now, disappear." He ground his mouth plates as he stood up, patting the alien dirt off of his knee. His ghost had not talked to him in a while. Its voice brought Phoros back to a time in which the two conversed more often.

-

Phoros trudged through the rubble. He looked around the collapsed structure that surrounded him like a trap. He spotted an arm before him, sticking out of a heap of rock as if it was a tombstone.

It was, in fact, a tombstone. He stayed silent as he laid the titan's head back. He moved over to his right, causing the sun's rays to blind him. A hunter lay on the ground, twisted and contorted in a perpetual image of agony. The warlock continued to say nothing as he rearranged his comrade's limbs into place, setting the hunter's body to lay straight, looking up to the sky through the ruined building's spotty ceiling. He made a slow walk outside, kicking aside the charred remains of a Hive knight on his way.

"Survival." He said, looking out across the street. The building he had exited blended in with the rest.

"What was that?" His ghost appeared beside him.

"Go back." He brushed his companion aside. "If you and I are to survive, humanity and its guardians must become much stronger. We cannot remain this way."

"I never thought of you as someone for the greater good."

"I never said I was. This," he looked down at the dented pieces of shattered ghost shells in his palm, "is about my own survival. I will grow stronger. Much stronger. I will live for myself. There are threats out there we must be ready for at all costs."

Phoros took one last look behind him, at the building he had lost his heart in. A rabbit began to burrow under the hollow space beneath the knight's helmet Phoros had kicked over. He made a sound as if he was spitting and turned tail, leaving the grave of those who had given him hope behind forever.


	16. Chapter 15

"Whew!" Ascella dropped her arms as the minotaur finally fell.

"Oh man." Lacer slumped to his knees. "Finally got him. Uhhh, Aegeus." The minotaur's massive left arm sprawled out in front of Lacer. He gave it a kick and began to walk to the edge of the spire. He looked down at the warlock below him.

"Is that him?" Ascella walked up next to the titan.

"Yeah. That's him, all right."

"Great! I can kick his ass!" She flipped a knife in front of her.

"He's not worth the trouble." Lacer pushed Ascella back by the chest. "Hey!" He called coldly, "don't follow us, asshole!"

"Yeah, stay away, you creep! Eat radiolaria and fall off your sparrow!" Ascella raised her fist.

"Going after Tivik right now is meaningless. You'll lose." Phoros didn't look up as he walked away. "You can be rest assured I won't crash your little party."

Lacer squeezed his fist as the warlock walked away. "C'mon, Ascella. Let's go after Tivik."

"How do we know where he is?"

"Ahah, that's the thing. He's bleeding because of Zahir's attack. It isn't much, cause it looks like he's bandaged it up, but Jolt here can do anything." He pat his annoyed ghost on the top of her shell.

"You retrieved Vex tech?" Noxis asked from the bay of a skiff, his wide cloak fluttering in the wind.

"Only one module. I figured I would make use of my jump here. Forgive me again for having to resort to such measures." Tivik lumbered over, towering over the vandals escorting him.

"Never mind that, we must leave at once. At your request, Dreliks has been promoted. He awaits in your skiff with Darvahk and Miskor's gear to be titled. We will mourn Miskor when-" A streak of void energy silently zipped through the air, barely missing the captain. "Guardians!" Another shot followed, tearing a hole through Noxis' chest. Tivik's eyes widened, and the old captain stumbled forward as the crack of a sniper followed.

"Noxis!" Tivik rushed forward.

"Activate your shields, Tivik! It is too late for me!" Noxis arc shield began to wrap around him, but it was shattered by another round. He stumbled back and was hit by one more shot.

"Damn. He just had to start moving. Next one won't miss. I'll put lead right into his skull." Lacer grunted, watching from the other side of the numerous Vex platforms that separated the guardians from Tivik's crew. He began to load another magazine into his gun. Vandal snipers began to let loose in the direction of the sniper round.

"Noxis!" Tivik yelled, rushing forward to catch the captain as he tumbled off of the skiff.

"Do not weep for me, boy. I have but one last thing to tell you." He coughed. "I always hated you, Tivik. Because of what you-" He coughed again.

"What I was? You mean my past…?"

"It is too late… if your curiosity gets the better of you, this ghost has the terrifying truth." He took a dead light from his necklace and placed it in Tivik's claw. Noxis' clumsy action sliced his adornment in half, causing the rest of the ghosts to clatter to the ground around him. He grinned as he fell limp. "Trapped… you are trapped… there is no…"

"What?" A sniper shot threatened his shields, bringing Tivik to action. "I will figure that out later." He turned around to face his assailants. His claw was balled into a fist. "Come forward, Dreliks." The vandal appeared at Tivik's side. "You are Dreliks, the Web. Ensnare these guardians, and get them way from us. Today is not a matter of winning or cutting our losses. It is a matter of carrying on Noxis' legacy in our mission! Go, my web! Carry out your duty! Spekris, are you on to fight?"

"I'm all better. Be there in a sec." Spekris spoke from the other end. Tivik walked away, and disappeared into a skiff with Noxis' body.

"We will not disappoint, master." Dreliks watched from the ceiling as his targets beat back his crew. He spat in disdain. "I will show these pigs what happens when they mess with the Guardian Killer."

"You heard the man, you don't have to kill them."

"I understand, but I will pursue their deaths actively."

"That's the spirit, kid." Spekris cooed as he began to leap from platform to platform.

"I seek to atone for the Trapper's death by being twice the assassin he was."

"Good luck, he'd killed 12 guardians before he croaked."

"Hmph."

"Ascella, you see that speedy one?" Lacer watched Spekris dart past his scope.

"Say no more!" The hunter ran forward. A squad of vandals armed with knives leapt forward to block her path.

"Not so fast!" Lacer fired two rounds, dispatching a vandal with each bullet. They spun in opposite directions as they fell to the ground alongside the other two, who had been taken out by Ascella's voidwall grenade.

"Nice shot! I've got him now!" She jumped up, and void energy began to crawl around her body as she drew a shimmering bow. Spekris tumbled forward, caught by a tendril of the shadowshot. He groaned as he attempted to escape its reach. "Get him!" Ascella yelled, charging forward with a shotgun. Lacer fixed his scope onto his target, but was suddenly blinded by a white cloud of lines. A web mine had fallen over Spekris. He heard Ascella struggle over his comms, and the webs dissipated to reveal her ghost, floating over her body. The tether was gone, and so, consequently, was Spekris.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Lacer yelled, switching to a machine gun and stepping forward. He fired a barrage of bullets in Ascella's direction, warding off any potential threats to the hunter's ticket back alive.

"A much better position, guardian. Much better!" Dreliks eyed the now exposed titan below him, chucking a web mine in his direction. A few seconds later, he followed up with another.

Ascella stumbled awake. Her foot ran into a small metal pole. "What's this?" She asked, reaching down to examine it. She heard a metallic strike behind her, and electricity burst to it from the trap in front of her. She leapt away, grunting at the damage of the shock. She watched as the vandal ran around her in a blur, linking more arc traps at varying elevations on the platforms around her. Soon, she was encased in a cage of arc energy.

"Ascella!" Lacer yelled, his voice warped by the web mines surrounding him. Another one detonated at his feet. "Damn it, this is getting real annoying."

"We can't kill 'em here, just get them off the platforms." Spekris urged, watching as the hunter he sped around destroyed his arc traps with a shotgun.

"No! We can end this here!" Dreliks leapt toward the titan below him. He broke Lacer's legs with a shock blade, causing the titan to buckle to his knees as a poison canister burst around them. Lacer gave a light chuckle from the ground as the gas quickly drifted away, into the openness of the Nessus air. He punched the vandal in the chest with a fist encased in void energy, pushing Dreliks away with a satisfying crack.

"The head honcho ain't even here, for neither of us. Just get rid of 'em, I told you." Spekris placed another arc trap.

Ascella, frustrated, brought a rocket launcher out. "Zahir taught me this trick! Here we go!" She fired straight into the ground below her, shattering the vex platform to pieces. Her ghost, panicked, floated swiftly downward in pursuit of her body.

"Heh. That takes care of that." Spekris turned and bolted toward Lacer, grappling with the titan's arms. Eventually, Dreliks joined the struggle, pushing Lacer over the edge of the platform with their combined strength. His legs limp and useless, the titan spiraled into the abyss below him.

"Victory!" Spekris pumped two of his arms. "And none of us got hurt or died! Well, except for, y'know…"

"Master Noxis was not part of this fight. One thing does linger on my mind, though. How did you have as much trouble as you did with these pathetic lightbearers?" Dreliks spat.

"You don't remember?" Spekris' voice dropped. "It's the orange armored titan that killed Darvahk and Miskor, and really hurt Noxis. It's him." He gripped his wire rifle tight. "Enough about him. We gotta go. C'mon, fellas." He waved the surviving vandals over to a skiff, and the crew took off, in pursuit of a ketch that stood above clouds of electricity and red Nessus fauna.


	17. Chapter 16

Tivik paced around his chambers, fiddling with the ghost in his hand. He turned it, poked at it, and twisted its shell, but to no avail.

"Noxis said there was a terrifying truth here. I see nothing but a trophy of mine!" He flung it to the ground, breaking the top segment of the shell off. A glint of metal caught Tivik's eye. He reached down, scraped the shard off of the cold ground, and found an Eliksni data chip hiding inside. "Is it here?" Tivik carried the chip to a terminal. He tapped his claws as data began to load in.

"Tivik, the crew has cleaned up after the burials. Where shall we head?" Dreliks asked, interrupting the Guardian Killer's train of thought.

"The Cabal outpost. Send a team to scout it out. We must resume our killing as soon as possible. Do we have sufficient amounts of poison?"

"Our reserves have replenished. Worry not of the canisters you used earlier today."

"Good. I have personal matters to attend to tonight. Inform me of when everything is ready."

"You got it, boss! I knew you'd get a chick some day!" Spekris' voice blasted his ears.

"Tivik would never occupy himself with such trivial matters, imbecile!" Dreliks retorted.

"Hey, just 'cause you're an assassin now, doesn't mean you can act like you're bigger than me!"

"Enough, the two of you. I will see you later." Tivik smiled and shut his comms off as he opened a file. "Tivik." He read, as a sprawl of Eliksni characters appeared on his screen.

"Do you remember? You were a guardian sympathizer. You were the lowest of the Eliksni. Now that I am sure I have your attention, listen carefully. There is a cybernetic 'block' in your memory. You put it there yourself."

Tivik shuddered, though not at the fault of the cold room.

"If you wish to remove it, there are instructions attached to this file. If I bestowed this data onto you, then at this point, there is likely no risk linked to performing this action. Do not worry."

"What is going on?" Tivik asked himself, now realizing that he had noticeable gaps in his memory. "Noxis, what did you… what did I do?"

-

"Eltanin? Somebody? Anybody!" Crucius yelled, standing at the large wooden doors to a library. He shook his shell. "It's no use… this is a kind of door I can't open." He knocked himself uselessly against the rich brown barriers and sighed. As he floated lower and lower, the doors suddenly opened.

"Uhm, the doors should be unlocked…" Eltanin stood before Crucius, looking to her sides for a visitor, confused. She dropped her hand and brought it back to one of her crutches. "Huh."

"Eltanin! Down here!" Crucius floated up to her face. She immediately stumbled back and looked away, away from what she now lacked.

"N-no..." Eltanin's head dropped as the doors closed on them.

"Hey, I know it may be hard for you to look at ghosts, especially me. Take your time." Crucius slowly floated back.

"It's not that… I do miss my ghost, but sometimes I think… maybe I didn't deserve her. Maybe she'd still be alive if-"

"Don't say that. You were a great guardian."

"A great guardian? Maybe. A great person? I'm not so sure. After all, he stopped caring about me."

"Zahir?"

"Yeah."

"What's the reasoning behind that?"

The sound of guests flipping through pages of wisdom beyond them filled the gap in their conversation. Eltanin's face remained hidden from the ghost.

"He was all Tivik this, Tivik that, and I thought… maybe he needed time away. I move in and he has to do all this extra cooking and stuff for me. I'm not a guardian anymore, so I can't fight with him. My legs are broken, so I need his help to even get up in the morning. I feel like I've just been holding him back, and that's why he stopped caring. I mean, he's got the bare essentials, but everything special went away, one by one. Our pasta days, watching crucible and gambit matches, going out shopping. I think that's why he did stuff like go to Phoros, because I don't matter to him anymore. Hunting Tivik is more important, and rightfully so."

"Eltanin, he never stopped caring. Quite the opposite. He spent more and more time tackling Tivik's case in your place because he didn't want it riding on your mind. Though, you're right. I think he's gone too far. He dug himself too deep. Not trusting you entirely with intel was a mistake. Talking to Phoros was a mistake. I would have tried to talk to him, but he doesn't seem to be doing too well right now."

"Is he mad at me for running?"

"Haha. I envy you. You're still able to pin the blame on someone, even if it's yourself. Me? I don't know what to think. I'm here to support the Traveler, and the light, but what do I do when things like this happen with my guardian?" Crucius looked up out of the skylight of the library, in the direction of his creator. "I've done my best for Zahir, but we all make mistakes, and I fear the both of us have done irreversible damage to the ones we trust. Take this away, though. He has no reason or right to be mad at you. If anything, you should be the one mad at him."

"Right… thanks, Crucius." She let go of her crutches, scooped the ghost into her hand, and held him tight, depraved of contact with one of the Traveler's drones for over a year. "So where is he? Let's give him an earful."

"Erm. That's the problem. He kind of took the ship and left after you did. Lacer's busy, and I can't get in contact with Bronze."

"Where is he?" Eltanin shook the ghost on an impulse."

"Agh! Careful! He's on Mars, but I can't triangulate his exact location. He must be in the ice caves. If I can't find him, he may be lost forever!"

"Why didn't you start with that? We're leaving. Where's Lacer? Ascella? Bronze?"

"I talked to Lacer and Ascella before seeing you. They were… I'll fill you in later. And, hold on. You're coming?"

"Like you said, I need to show Zahir that he can rely on me, right? Plus, what if the others don't make him budge?"

"True, but it's too big of a risk, especially in your current condition."

"Not to worry, I have a plan that'll keep me safe."

-

Phoros tiredly looked over a sprawling wall of data. Images, files, and maps littered his eyes. A steady drip of water was the only ambience in the cave he had camped out in. He was illuminated by screens from the front and moonlight from the back.

"Damn it. If I could only have gotten Vanguard reports from the titan…" he grabbed his ghost. "You still can't access the VanNet?"

"An exile is an exile. We're on our own." His companion stated, clearly annoyed at being manhandled.

Phoros stood up and began to pace around. "The Vex teleporters take his targets to blights. It always ends at a blight. If wr could only find out-"

"How he gets the guardian to the teleporter in the first place."

"Exactly." He didn't look at his ghost.

"Oh, the things we can do when we just talk to each other."

"Enough of your lip!" Phoros curled his fists. "As far as I know, you're only telling me what you want to."

"That's nonsense. Maybe if you try harder, you can get cooperation from a guardian."

"Enough. Away. It took everything I had to try to reason with that titan. Now I know what they're all like. They can't see the bigger picture." Phoros relaxed and continued his research. "I'll track the Guardian Killer myself, because it seems these fools can't do it on their own."


	18. Chapter 17

"Is that it?" Lacer watched as his ship circled around a small cargo ship in Earth's orbit.

"Yeah! I'd recognize that junker anywhere!" Ascella observed, just ahead of the titan.

"Alright, transmat's a-go." The guardians appeared inside, stumbling over unknown items strewn over the floor. "I can't see worth a damn. Jolt!" Lacer caught his balance on a metal wall. The impact sent a wave throughout the entire craft. Shortly after, his ghost succeeded in powering up the ship. Everything in the ship was now illuminated by a flickering blue light.

They were in a rectangular room, the front of which housed the cockpit. Behind them were two halls lined with lockers, and they converged on an engine room at the back of the ship. A pack of cards and several cans of empty energy drinks were set on a table in front of them. Countless tools and boxes of junk lay around their feet.

"We're taking Eltanin in this dump?" Ascella kicked a wrench behind her. It clattered against a locker, causing an unknown weapon to groan.

"You can clean it up if it bothers you that much, miss." Lacer walked to the cockpit.

"For someone who was Zahir's best friend, Kale's ship is…"

"I know, I know, but we've gotta go now. Eltanin's waiting." He took hold of the ship's controls. "We're gonna park at the local airfield, just so we don't get too many looks."

"Since when were you so self conscious about the ship you fly?"

"I always have been. Kale never cared about what people thought of him, but I don't wanna be known as the hobo titan."

"Mmm, yep, I guess that doesn't flow as well as hobo hunter."

"Haha, he definitely hated that name, though." Lacer pulled the ship down to Earth. The shift in movement caused an unsecured drawer by him to burst open. "Woops, better clo-" he looked inside. A collection of labelled data drives displayed themselves to him from their metallic home.

"No, I shouldn't." He thought, but as he pushed the drawer away, a drive labelled 'Tivik' caught his eye. He hesitated for a moment before stuffing it into a pouch on his belt and latching the drawer closed.

"What's that?" Ascella slumped over the chair and looked over Lacer's shoulder, crossing her arms above the seat.

"Later. Let's get Eltanin."

The cargo ship touched down loudly. Its unkempt appearance earned a few looks from mechanics and passengers milling about, and caused a smile to appear on one woman's face. She began to make her way over to the ship's entrance, and was greeted by a crimson clad hunter.

"Hey, El! It's been forever!" Ascella brought Eltanin into a tight hug, knocking the ex-warlock's breath out.

"Yes it has!" Eltanin wheezed, "I really missed you. How have you been?"

"I should be asking you that." The hunter not so subtly turned her head to look at Eltanin's crutches.

"Oh, I'll be walking on my own in a couple of months, it's fine. Where's Lacer?" Eltanin tried to look into the ship.

"He's, uh, changing." Ascella crossed her arms as the titan exited in a set of rookie titan gear.

"Hardcase isn't as slick as my armor, but it sure looks fine on its own." Lacer ran his hands along the blue gauntlets covering his arms as he descended. "C'mon, Ascella, Eltanin, we've gotta go. You ready? Know where he is?" He pointed at the latter.

"Oh, I know where he is." Crucius flew out from behind Eltanin, shaking his shell authoritatively. "What's with that armor?"

"I can't be seen flying this piece of junk, man, you know me. If even one person recognizes me-"

"You went through all that trouble changing just to step outside for less than a minute?" Ascella questioned, helping Eltanin into the ship.

"It's a necessary precaution." Lacer followed the two back inside and put his hands on a table. "Alright, I came upon something real interesting, and I think we should check it out." He produced the drive from his hand.

"You went through a dead man's stuff?" Ascella put her hands on her hips jokingly.

"No, not exactly. Anyway, this thing's labelled Tivik, and, you know, anything helps. Despite killing a bunch of his assassins, we still know almost nothing about his motives or anything like that, besides wanting to kill us all, and I feel like that might be a little important. Anyone object to taking a looksies?" He held the device to both Eltanin and Ascella. "No? Perfect." He let his ghost scan the drive. Blue lights swept over the small black rectangle, and the drone projected an image above the table the three surrounded. A bored looking exo leaned back in a chair, flipping a screwdriver into the air and catching it.

"It's Kale! Kale-8!" Eltanin leaned forward.

The holographic hunter tossed his toy aside, causing an audible clatter. "Hey, whoever's got this, probably Zahir, dunno. If you're hearing this, I either gave it to you, or I'm a dead man. Either way, you're probably after Tivik, and that means he's a big problem now. If you're Zahir, I'm not telling you this directly, because, uh, I feel like you and Heather've kinda given up on the whole Tivik thing at this point, but hey, I'm glad we're a fireteam now. I mean it... I know. Oh, Kale actually cares about anybody other than himself? Wow!"

He leaned forward and slapped his hands onto his knees. "Now, onto what I'll probably end up calling this recording: Tivik. So, apparently, this guy has a little brother named Vyksis. I was able to snag a moment with him through some… connections. Anyway, he told me a lot. At least, a lot compared to what we know. Probably won't help too much, but here it is:

Did you know that Tivik was on our side at one point, or he wanted to be? Our buddy Vyksis is actually allied with the city, and he said Tivik would probably be with him right now, if he wasn't, you know, a murderer. I know this is confusing. Why would a guardian sympathizer try to kill us? Here's my theory. His first kill, or, I guess, let's see here… one, two, three… triple kill, was an accident, or a mistake. I know Eliksni. They stick to their code. As a friendly, he'd do anything BUT kill an entire three guardians.

So, you want to join them, but you've gone and become infamous for allegedly killing an entire fireteam. What do you do? You indulge in your fame. There's no turning back after you so blatantly take a side, and I know what that's like. I've done some interesting things, and Zahir's barely cleared my name to let me run Vanguard ops with him. Loyalty and commitment? They're pretty solid things that you can't mess with easily.

Now, I'm not saying we should feel pity for the guy. He's an Eliksni, and, whatever the case, he killed our guys. Do with this information what you will. Burn it, lose my beautiful voice, pawn it off, whatever. If it's you, Zahir, keep at it, bud. Anybody else? Good luck, unless you've already put this "Guardian Killer" into the ground. I'm sure it was easy as pie. Kale out."

"A gift, Vyksis. I crafted it on my travels." Tivik handed a small, metallic replica of the Traveler to his younger brother. The smaller Eliksni took it up in his claws, inspecting it in amazement. "That is what I seek, brother. Our ancestors were blessed by the Great Machine, and I believe we can be chosen, we can be more, just as humanity is.

"How?" Vyksis closed his hand around the contraption.

"Warfare is not an option. I believe their city is a bastion that cannot be felled." The vandal looked out the window of their rickety camp. The Traveler was barely visible in the distance, hidden among the darkness of the night and countless clouds, but Tivik could still see it as clearly as he had when he stood at the apex of the American continents. "The way to glory is alongside them."


	19. Chapter 18

Another memory forced its way into Tivik's brain. He recoiled in pain, tearing his helmet off. He breathed heavily and clutched his head as he crumpled down. "What is the meaning of this? This much of my life was locked away?" His eyes flared in shock. "My brother is no heretic. I am the heretic! My brother…" his vision began to fade to a dark blue and white as his consciousness drifted into the past.

Tivik ran as fast as he could, gripping his younger brother's arm tight. Their home was a flash of bullets and arc rounds. The unrelenting snowstorm in front of them pelted his mask. He spat and knelt, recharging himself with ether. He offered a portion to Vyksis.

"Brother, why did father have to die? Why was he killed by those we want to trust?" Vyksis asked, shaking in the cold.

Tivik shed his cloak and wrapped it around the smaller Eliksni. He squeezed his four eyes. "Vyksis, that lightbearer… did what they had to to survive. They do not understand Eliksni like you or I. It was a matter of circumstance." He put a hand on Vyksis' shoulder. "I do not blame that human for father's death. I hope you can understand." He stood up and continued walking, though not with his brother in tow. "Find a group that will care for you, Vyksis. I am at an age where I must provide for myself. I will find a crew, I will survive, and I will come back to you. We will achieve our goal, I promise."

"I think I understand." Vyksis nodded. "I won't let father's death change anything."

"Good." Tivik adjusted his mandibles into a smile. "Go now, I will see you again, brother." He grimaced in pain as he turned around, disappearing from Vyksis' view into the snowstorm. "I will be strong for you, Vyksis. Whatever it takes."

-

"And now, we dock the sympathizer." The captain ordered, slowly approaching the chained vandal.

Tivik struggled against his binds. "My captain, please. I am past that."

"Oh? Then what are these?" The Eliksni held a datapad before Tivik's face.

He did not have to look, for the information before him had been written by himself. He lowered his head and made one last plea. "Though I have faith in guardians, my feelings about our kind do not change. We are noble. We deserve the Traveler, but this is not the way."

"Listen close, Tivik." The captain leaned closer. "We have no room for weaklings on our crew. You will either shape up," he held a shock blade high. "Or die!"

His weapon ripped through Tivik's shoulder, severing his lower arm immediately. Tivik was still processing the pain as his other arm was cut off. His screams echoed on the metal walls around them.

"The caps." The captain held his hand out.

"Yes, Noxis." A vandal dropped two docking caps into Noxis' waiting claws.

"Do you know what happens when one of us holds back because of our petty ideals? We fail. Failure leads to death! And a catalyst for failure like you," Noxis covered the dreg's wounds with the caps. A crude patch for Tivik's honor starving injuries. "Might as well be dead. Consider this a sign of mercy." He and the rest of the crew began to exit the room. Tivik could feel their four eyed glares of disdain through his fading vision.

Tivik's remaining arms were released, and he collapsed onto the floor of their lair. His head buzzed, and his torso screamed in pain. "Failure." He whispered, "I am a failure of an Eliksni." He struggled to push himself up. If I die now, what have I lived for?" He looked around, his vision spotty. "If they find out I have a brother, he will surely suffer. I cannot let that happen." He stumbled to his quarters. A newfound, desperate resolve filled his heart.

-

Tivik the dreg looked over the three struggling guardians in a pit before him. A hive wizard shrieked as it crumbled to ash.

"Move, move! Our light's still-" the titan coughed as he hauled the corpse of his hunter friend over. "C'mon, we can revive him if we just get out of here."

Tivik watched the guardians attempt to escape. He looked over at his wire rifle, which lay in the snow next to him. He started to reach for his weapon, then shook his head. If he could hold out for another year, perhaps, he would be fine. Before he could leave the guardians be, though, the footfalls of his captain sounded behind him, freezing him in place.

"This is your chance, Tivik." Noxis' words crept into Tivik's head as approached. "Do you remember what I told you?" He grabbed the wire rifle, brushed it off, and shoved it into Tivik's arms. "There is no room for failure on our crew." He pushed the dreg forward. "Go… do what you have to. To survive. You deserve it."

A mixture of fear and desire was enough to snap the Eliksni into focus. He crept forward, his legs hugging the cliff, and took aim, first at the titan. He watched the guardian struggle to drag the hunter along. Sorrow began to entangle his heart, and the reticle of the wire rifle swayed. Perhaps if he pretended he missed…

"If you do not kill them now, our crew might catch one or two eventually." Noxis warned, taking note of the dreg's hesitation. Tivik swallowed as he pulled the trigger. Noxis was right. The rest of their crew was around the area, and wouldn't hesitate to murder the guardians in cold blood. The heavy guardian fell, and he desperately reached for his dropped comrade. Tivik closed his eyes and ended the titan's life. He then took aim at a confused warlock, and all was done. He turned away, refusing to watch their ghosts flicker out, drowned by darkness.

Noxis huffed in amusement. "Tivik, you surprise me again, but this time, it is a good surprise. In a way, you are still a failure for abandoning your dream. One would think your resolve would stop you. However," He walked around the dreg. "You've done well to get past your own mind. Self preservation is a good motivator, is it not? You are a true Eliksni, working and living for himself." He pulled Tivik forward. "Do not worry, you do not understand beings like they, so you cannot be hurt by their deaths, and they cannot blame you."

Tivik came out of his haze. "What have I done?" His arms shook, and he dropped his rifle.

"What have you done? Tivik, you've made me proud."

Proud. The word shook the dreg's entire being. He wept uncontrollably, deprived of approval since the day he lost his home. He saw his long dead father in his mind, and his thoughts began to wander to his brother. The rest of Noxis' crew began to surround the two, attracted by the sound of gunfire.

Noxis reached down and pulled the docks off of Tivik. He took Tivik's upper right arm and held it up for all to see. "Do you see those three dying ghosts?" He swept another arm across the pit. "That was the work of our very own human sympathizer! Now, witness the rise of the Guardian Killer, Tivik!" The rest of the crew cheered, clicked, and roared in light of the dreg's transformation.


	20. Chapter 19

Tivik cried for the first time in years.

"I see. My failure to kill that titan…"

He remembered now. Soon after he branched off from the Devils, a certain titan had interrupted one of his murders. The same titan that had now recently killed Darvahk and Miskor. He looked down at his right foot.

"He is the one that took my leg off." He ran his hand over the prosthetic.

That was a time he thought turning back was possible, and his vague memory subconsciously held him back against the titan during his struggle in the European Dead Zone.

"I can modify and reattach the block, and rid myself of these memories forever." He shakily read a file. "Is this what I must do?" Silence filled his room as he contemplated. If he abandoned his memories, he would fail no longer, and failure was something he had grown to despise.

"Tivik the guardian sympathizer is long dead, and he is a burden to the Guardian Killer." He concluded, reaching for a button. "If I am to survive, it will be down this path." His claws ran over the button that would erase his memories once more, but not leave a trace of anything that would hinder him. "I did not expect to encounter this guardian again, and the crew paid dearly for it. No more! I will continue down the path of bloodshed! Negotiation is not an option I should trouble myself with! I will kill! And kill! Until the Traveler has no choice but to accept me, and all other Eliksni!"

He slammed his fist down, for he had convinced himself enough, and his avenue was sealed. All memories and feelings of his hope to ally himself with humanity vanished, and Tivik blacked out.

"You ready?" Lacer asked, as he put the ship into orbit above the Hellas Basin.

"Yeah," Eltanin replied quietly, "isn't transmat impossible in the ice caves?"

"Ah, that's why we have this baby! We'll make a transmat zone." He hauled a charred, sputtering rocket launcher from a locker. "Dragon's Breath," he read, "Niiiice."

"Is it safe?" Ascella asked, approaching the titan cautiously.

"Of course it's safe! Ow." A spark jumped onto his face. "Okay, alright. Hell if I know, but you won't have to worry about that." He patted the hunter's shoulder and hauled the rocket launcher onto his back. "See you in a bit, El. We're going spelunking. Prepare a speech for the man or something. I wanna shed tears."

Lacer and Ascella disappeared from the ship, leaving Eltanin alone with her thoughts. She let go of her crutches and slumped down onto a chair. "Oh god, Crucius. What am I gonna say?" She looked around. "Crucius?"

"I'm here." The ghost floated out of the cockpit's seat. "Truthfully, I don't know if he'll budge, and I'm sure you don't want to force him out of hiding." The ghost floated over to the ex-warlock, and the two shared a silent moment.

"Shouldn't you be down there?"

"The only place in the ice caves he would hide is his rez spot, which I've flagged for those two."

"Ah."

"Are you still worried?"

"Of course I am, but don't worry. I'll improvise."

"I guess I'll have to trust you." Crucius sighed. "Looks like they've already made contact with Hive. Lacer, how are you holding up down there?"

"Damn it, man. Why does it have to get so dicey so quick?" Lacer pushed himself against a cover of ice. Hive shredders chipped away at the frozen wall.

"Good thing we know Hive." Ascella remarked from a ledge beside him, as a cursed thrall smothered her in chilling corpse parts. "Not these H-Hive, th-though." She shivered.

A large knight smashed its way through an ice wall to challenge the guardians, much to their dismay.

"Damn it all!" Lacer's palm lit up in void energy.

"Yes! Do the thing! Do the thing!" Ascella cheered from above.

"Hold that knight off! These small fries are mine." He yelled, as his magnetic grenade flared to life.

"Already on it!" Ascella drew a balanced, neon blue sword and approached the massive knight. Each step it took rumbled the snow powdered ground beneath them.

Lacer slapped the grenade against his fist, leapt over cover, and moved toward a nearby acolyte. He punched it, and it crumbled into ice. He felt energy siphon from the acolyte to him, forming a protective barrier around him that shielded him from the now exploding grenade on his knuckles, which eliminated several thrall that had been fighting beside the long dead acolyte. He swung again, catching a thrall in the stomach and flinging the rest of the frozen horde away with another detonation of the grenade.

"Worked flawlessly, as always." Lacer shook his smoking hand as it regenerated, not entirely free from the effects of the explosions.

"Ugh!" Ascella struggled against the knight, holding back a sword many times larger than hers. Her legs began to bend from the weight.

"Hold it there, Ascella!" Lacer scrambled to grip his sniper rifle. He took aim at the knight and shot his entire magazine at its head. Each hit made a dent in its icy helmet, but none made it falter.

"Lacer, you gotta hurry!" Ascella was pushed down to her knees, and her arms began to shake.

"C'mon, you! Go down already!" He began to reload.

Ascella was pushed onto her back. Her sword was pushed just above her chest.

"Lacer!"

"I gotcha!" Lacer yelled, as he fired a round into the knight's hand. "That'll keep ya from- oh, come on."

The knight dropped its sword and reached for the hunter. Its claws slid easily around Ascella's body. Lacer frantically shot at the knight, but its hide was too tough.

"Ascella!" Lacer began to run to the knight, but stopped in his tracks as he saw a titan, enveloped in arc energy, rocket toward the massive Hive warrior. He struck its back, sending a shockwave through the cave that forced the knight to stumble forward and release the hunter. Lacer ran forward, and dived to catch Ascella on his back as she fell. The impact knocked his wind out as he continued to slide.

"Did… we… do… it…?" She asked, heaving with each breath.

"Yeah, you did great!" Lacer groaned, "now get off my back. I can't breathe."

The two guardians sat up, regenerating, as Zahir wrestled Ascella's sword out of the ground, standing to face the weakened knight. It sneered. A bright green glow emanated from its eyes, showing its gruesome face through its cracked helmet.

"Kanthul, Claw of Nokris." Jolt said, scanning the knight for Lacer. "He's a really high ranking Hive warrior. No wonder he didn't budge to your sniper rifle."

Zahir swung his arm forward, launching the sword into Kanthul's upper eye. The knight roared in pain and rushed forward, brandishing his sword. Zahir tossed a pulse grenade forward, stopping the knight in his tracks. He readied his rocket launcher and called to the other two. "Don't just stand there, hit him with everything you've got!"

Lacer suddenly remembered. "Jolt! The rocket launcher! Give it here!" He held his hands out, and the menacing gun appeared. He took aim at the ice ceiling above the knight as Ascella began to shoot her scout rifle. Zahir was struck by Kanthul's sword, forcing him downward. He groaned, as the cleaver's hit had broken his helmet, and he had no ghost to heal him.

"Get away!" Lacer yelled, as a molten frenzy of solar energy escaped the weapon. It festered and boiled as it hit the ice, and flames rained down upon its target. Kanthul shrieked as his armor was filed down to bone. He fell to his knees, melting to nothing.

Zahir stood up, rubbing his damaged head. "What are you two doing here?"

"I should be asking you that. Come back, Zahir. We need you." Lacer walked forward. Sunlight began to stream into the cave from the new hole in the ceiling.

"That rocket launcher…" Zahir looked over Lacer's shoulder. "That's Kale's. Why were you in Kale's ship?" His voice grew accusative.

"It was necessary. Don't worry, we didn't mess with anything. Come on, man. I'm tired of this. You've gotta get back to being the Zahir we know. You haven't been the same since the Red War."

The exo clenched his fists. "Don't bring that up. Don't you dare say those words."

"Zahir, this isn't like you. Please." Lacer was desperate.

"Can I come down now?" Eltanin asked from above.

"Uh, I wouldn't. This is looking to get kind of violent." Ascella stepped back. "Just hold tight, El! It's all gonna be-"

Zahir stomped his foot forward. "You two need to leave, now."

"Who's gonna hunt Tivik, then? Cause we sure as hell can't!" Lacer yelled. His voice echoed through the cave. "I want you back, but it's not just because I'm selfish. Tivik is a real threat!"

"Shut up. He's no threat. Just kill all the lackeys he throws at you, and you'll eventually get him. I got close to doing it myself, after all."

"You're crazy. Of course he's a threat. If he gets enough of us, there's a number of things that could happen."

"Just get the Vanguard in on it."

"That's not gonna work! We won't have nearly enough guardians to find him! He's a needle in a haystack! If we're going to do this, I want your drive, your motivation!"

"That's long gone." Zahir's fist crackled blue. "Leave, or I'll have to make you."


	21. Chapter 20

"The hell's wrong with you? Did that knight knock something loose in your head?" Lacer raised his fists in defense. Arc energy moved from Zahir's hands up his arm.

"Last chance. Get out of here." The titan took two menacing steps before stopping only a couple of feet in front of Lacer.

"Man, don't do this." The defender shook his head.

"I need time!" Zahir swung. His fist was caught by an overhead block.

"You've had enough time. You spent an entire year here!" Lacer pushed Zahir back. "Why are you being so hostile? I'm trying to help you, man!"

"I'm going to end up hurting you, one way or another. Just like I hurt Eltanin." The exo moved in for another punch.

Lacer welcomed it, taking a charged fist to the stomach. "If you let us help you out, you won't have to worry!" He gripped the exo's arm, having taken no damage, as most of his void energy was consolidated to his stomach to defend himself.

"Maybe this'll knock some sense into ya!" Lacer pulled Zahir forward and sent his fury fueled fist into Zahir's head, toppling him backward. An exo eye peered at Lacer from behind a cracked helmet. Another punch, and Zahir was down, as cold as the floor he lay on.

"Oh man, what's going on?" Ascella remained on the sidelines, watching in shock.

"If I'm being honest, I didn't expect to be able to beat him." Lacer clutched his stomach and moved toward the limp titan. "Crucius, Eltanin. Get down here." He looked up through the hole he had made in the roof of the cave. "Actually, just you for now, Crucius."

The ghost appeared in a flash of light, and slowly floated toward his companion. "Oh, yeah. Eltanin wouldn't want to see this. What happened?" He asked, turning toward Lacer.

"He, uh, got a bit unreasonable." He rubbed his head. "I'm going to go back to the ship. You coming?" He looked at Ascella.

"Yeah, I'm going. That knight tired me out." She held her ghost out, and began to load back into the sky before another word could be said.

"I can't believe it's come to this." Crucius shook his shell, beginning to resurrect the fallen exo before him. "Come to think of it, this is where I first rezzed him. Huh."

"Eltanin, why are you here?" Zahir saw the woman's tired face looking over him as he awoke. She was dressed in a heavy coat to protect her from the biting cold. "You have to get out of here. There's Hive about, and without your light…"

"I'll be fine. Crucius is scanning our surroundings." She looked over to the ghost, who circled the walls of ice around them.

"How can you even look at me? I messed up. I messed up hard. Come on, you can leave me alone, I'll will everything I own to you, and you can be happy with none of my nonsense."

"You're crazy. That's not how I feel! Why do you think I came all the way here? I wouldn't be happy without you!" Eltanin gripped the sides of Zahir's head tight. "I know I ran too, but you put your life in danger! You could have at least taken Crucius. Why did you go?"

"All I seem to do is destroy my relationships. Even my ghost got worried, and he's never one to give up on me." He sighed. "I went about handling myself the wrong way after the Red War, and I wasn't the only one who suffered for it. Some people take it easy, and others like me mess up. I thought you'd hate me for it."

"I don't. I should have heard you out. I don't know what you're going through, but I could have listened."

"Don't be hard on yourself. We both know this was all my fault." Zahir sat up, now looking down on Eltanin instead. "No crutches?"

"I can sit."

"As I was saying, you had every right to be mad at me."

"I know! And that's what's so confusing about all of this!" She let her head fall onto the exo's chestplate. "I'm scared, and confused! And I felt alone because you got all caught up in this Tivik business! I miss my light! I miss my ghost! It's too much!" Her voice was muffled by Zahir's armor.

Zahir put his hand over Eltanin's head. "You're not alone." He looked up at the Mars sky through the fresh hole in the ceiling. "We've lost a lot. Saiph really put me over the edge." He thought of everyone he had lost in the Red War. His fireteam, Heather and Kale. Another member of his scout team, the warlock Vira.

"We have. You were so absorbed in your investigation, and, I know this is long past, but you never visited me in the hospital."

"I neglected you. I'm sorry. You must have been terrified. I promise you, I'll change."

"I thought you just didn't care anymore, I thought you saw me as a burden, so I didn't really scold you or anything."

"You really should have. I could have used it. I know I'm not the best at expressing my feelings, and I hope it's not too late to ask for your forgiveness, but I really do care. There were a lot of things going through my head. They still aren't all sorted out, and that doesn't excuse me, but I'll manage."

Eltanin smiled warmly. "We really want the old you back. Lacer, especially."

"I could tell. He tried to beat it out of me. It worked a little, I guess."

"Will you come back to us?"

"I'll get out of here, but you know, we'll never be the same." He eyed Eltanin's bandaged leg.

"I know. We'll move on, but we'll do it together now." Eltanin thought back to Zahir's destructive nature that had scared her the past week. In place of fear now was understanding.

"Let's go. I don't want you to get too cold."

"Oh, come on!" Eltanin laughed. "I'll be fine! I'm glad you're picking on stuff like that, though. That's just something you always did."

"I guess you're right." He chuckled, as the two began their transmat back up.

Lacer had his arms on his legs, sitting on a chair with a can of soda in front of him. Ascella lounged on the pilot's seat, fiddling with a screen. Their attention was turned to Zahir and Eltanin appearing on the ship. Eltanin let go of Zahir and moved to her crutches, clearly embarrassed. Lacer cast a bored look toward the titan.

"I'm sure you already know this, but I'm sorry." I hope we can put this past us. "Zahir held his hand out.

Lacer took a deep breath and stood up. "Well, I did get to beat the snot out of you. We'll call it even." He grasped the exo's hand and held it up tight. "Glad to have you back, buddy. For real, this time."

Zahir nodded and let go, turning to Ascella. "It's been a while, Ascella. Good to see you."

"Good to see you, too! Hey, you gotta get back in the scout team. Lacer's losing it doing all the paperwork." She spun the chair around.

"I'm doing just fine!" Lacer retorted, as his ghost floated up beside him.

"He totally isn't." Jolt stated, disappearing before Lacer could say another word.

"Alright, yeah, fine. It's making me lose my mind. I'm glad I wasn't in charge of things back then. If you don't wanna come back, though, I'll get by."

"We'll see, but I have an Eliksni to hunt." Zahir moved toward the disorganized table. He was met with blank stares all around.

He corrected himself. "Excuse me, WE have an Eliksni to hunt."

"Before we do that," Lacer flipped a file around his fingers, "we've got a little something on Tivik's past."

"He's not choosing his targets." The ghost observed, scanning a trove of data. "These murders… they're seemingly random."

"There is one thing we know now, though. His killings don't begin on Io. He can transport a clueless guardian anywhere with Vex tech. That's why he's untrackable. The place he lures the guardian to teleport could be anywhere, and all he has to do is set up a small teleporter in an isolated space." Phoros slammed his palms onto his desk. "It's genius! A twisted genius, and I hate it!"

"He's more dangerous than we thought. If he kills enough guardians, and the city's left without protection-"

"Then I will surely die." Phoros bore over his work. "There is only one way to ensure this plan isn't seen through. We have enough information. Let's look for some orange Fallen." He began to exit his camp as his ghost transmatted his belongings away.

"You forgot this." The ghost sent a photo into Phoros' free hand.

The warlock didn't look at his hand and squeezed, adding more wrinkles to the already ruined paper. "Why do you insist on keeping this photograph?"

"You're the only one that carries their memory."

He begrudgingly slipped it into a pocket on his robe. "They were Vanguard slaves. I don't care for their memory."

"You don't think that. I know you don't." His ghost whispered, disappearing from view to follow his companion.


	22. Chapter 21

"We have a hit, Phoros. Fallen spotted near a Hive colony, Tangled Shore." The ghost hovered in front of the warlock, covering most of his vision. "I'm guessing they're harvesting Wizard poison."

"Perfect. We're going." He set course on his ship, and immediately began transit.

"Are you sure? I mean, we're not one hundred percent on this yet, are we?"

"As I explained earlier, we know enough of his methods to counteract them." He fiddled with a strange weapon in front of him, tightening a large barrel. Its length filled most of the cockpit of the warlock's ship. "The earlier we are, the higher chance we have of surviving. For the careful planner, there is only success. If only more people would understand that." The ship stopped, and he relaxed. "It's time."

"If you say so…" The ghost trailed off as he transported his guardian down below.

Phoros crouched low, surrounded by dull green Reef shrubbery on an asteroid overlooking the breeding ground.

"This is weird. The Hive weren't even here when the ping was set off. They've… just arrived." His ghost looked over to an incoming fleet of tombships screeching through portals and surrounding the cave, spilling countless troops at its entrance.

"Strange indeed. I'm guessing he's baiting out a certain Hive target. He'd have no reason to attack an empty pit." Phoros descended from cover. "Nevertheless, this is our chance. We just have to intercept him when he arrives." The Warlock crept up along the field, avoiding contact with incoming Hive. Stopping at a cave entrance, he brought his rocket launcher-like weapon out and loaded strange looking ammunition into the tube. "This had better work." He mumbled, stowing it once more. He entered to meet a surprised patrolling Acolyte, who was dispatched with a palm before it could make any noise.

"Still no Fallen aircraft coming in. Wouldn't he need a lot more than whichever Fallen set the bait? I mean, there's a ton of Hive spilling in. This breeding ground might as well be labelled active." The ghost examined the sky, searching for vessels.

He ran, looking left and right at the rooms his ghost scanned. "That room! Do you see any Fallen in there?" He moved toward a locked door, aiming a hand cannon.

"N-no, I don't. There's not a single Eliksni soul in there, and these runes… they're not like any other Hive locks I've decoded."

"Not a single one? This is the most secure room here. I'm sure Fallen would be here, if any." Phoros looked inside the now unlocked room to see no lumbering Hive nor skittering Fallen. He only saw a hole in the rock made recently by a welding tool, and a Vex teleporter sitting in the center of the room.

"I don't understand. Is he… trying to trap a Hive target? Is this how he sends his troops in? No, he's always sent skiffs to do his work. A single Vex teleporter is far too inefficient." Phoros circled the device.

"No way." The warlock froze. "Is this how he…"

"You are correct. That teleporter," A silent voice whispered from behind Phoros. "Is for you."

He jumped and fired his hand cannon at a blank wall, drowning out the mysterious whisper. "Did you not scan that?"

"I can't read anything! He's completely invisible!"

"This must be a member of Tivik's crew. I knew they were specialized, but this is…"

A web mine detonated at Phoros' feet. The warlock struggled to move out of the corner he was in, slowed considerably by the trap.

"Unfortunately, your work was for naught." Dreliks appeared in front of Phoros' path out of the web mine. His cloak melted down, revealing the Eliksni's waiting form. Before lightning could be struck, a grenade could be thrown, a bullet could be fired, Phoros was flung into the portal by the Vandal.

"Tivik, a guardian is through." Dreliks called, as the room descended into silence once more.

"Zahir, urgent transmission from the Shore, addressed to you." Eltanin looked over a notification on her tablet, puzzled.

"Just now?" Zahir walked over, looking at the report from behind.

"Yeah, from the ghost of an unnamed guardian. There's a single word here, just… "Fallen."..."

"Patch me in. Now."

"On it." Eltanin handed a headset to the titan as she tapped him in.

"Guardian? Guardian! You need to get out of there now! You have no idea what you're dealing with!" Zahir looked over the map on the tablet frantically. His eyes darted over text and intel speedily. "Guardian? It seems that area's just now become a Hive hotspot. You said there were Fallen there? I don't think this is what it seems."

There was no response. Zahir threw the headset off and began to dash for the door. "Tivik's crew is there fighting Hive, and a guardian as well. They must be harvesting wizard poison." He flung the apartment door open, stopping to turn around and address his roommate. "I refuse to see another grave. I'm going. Eltanin, keep an eye on the situation."

"On it."

"If I'm late, there's leftovers in the fridge, and definitely call the others as well. I'll see you."

She smiled through her fear. "See you."

Phoros fell on the floor, his brief transport over. He felt the oppressive energy of a blight crawl around his entire body.

"Of course… they weren't targeting Hive, they were counting on a guardian investigating the Hive and stumbling upon that teleporter."

He stood up and took note of his surroundings. Lime green and yellow stone surrounded the tight room that housed him and the blight. He began to run for the exit, but a canister of poison rolling to his feet took his attention away. It burst, causing him to scramble back.

"It's him."

Tivik's heavy footfalls thundered through the warlock's ears. The warlock fired his hand cannon through the seemingly pitch black opening that separated the cave rooms, but there was no indication of a hit.

"Of course he wouldn't be directly behind that." Phoros reached for the strange rocket launcher on his back and took aim, waiting.

Another canister burst. He began to feel the venom attack all sides of his body, but he had to make sure the shot would count.

One more cloud of gas appeared, and Phoros shot the ground with a projectile filled with compressed air. It blasted the poison clean out of the room, and even caused the blight beside him to shudder. He ignored its slow, crawling edge and dove out of his prison.

"Who is this lightbearer?" Tivik cocked his head in intrigue, watching Phoros stumble out of the cave. Two web mines sprung up on either side of the him as Tivik began to charge his wire rifle. Phoros disabled one with his palm and shot the other with his hand cannon, but, to his dismay, their removals only showed more mines.

"I see. You're a careful planner as well." Phoros covered himself in arc energy. He grunted as a wire rifle round struck his now reinforced helmet. He blinked forward and out of the webs. Tivik snarled and struck the warlock with his arm, flinging the warlock back toward the blight.

"Change of plans, then." Phoros stuck his arms out toward the Taken anomaly, stinging it with tendrils of lightning. He continued to channel the arc through his arms, willing his trance into the blight until it fizzled into nothing. The weight that it had brought onto him lifted, but he was reminded of his threat as a line of arc energy pierced his shoulder. He stumbled over and took another shot to the leg, toppling him to the ground. He grunted as he heard another canister roll up to his torso and envelop him once again in poison.

The Guardian Killer approached the weakened warlock, assured of victory.

"An admirable struggle, lightbearer, but I am afraid it was not enough. Hopefully, my next victim will be anybody you have withheld any information about me to-"

A collection of arc energy at the warlock's chest caught Tivik's eye. A burst of arc fusion rifle bolts zoomed up the gap between the two, but they dissipated harmlessly against Tivik's purple shields.

Phoros gasped in despair. "Void shields… you changed your… shield-"

Tivik stepped on the warlock with his massive foot. His shadow added to the already dark atmosphere created by the poison.

"Since you've made it so far, allow me to complete the puzzle for you." The Eliksni clicked in amusement, pushing down harder an causing the guardian to gasp.

"I seek an empty outpost of Hive, Cabal, whatever it may be, and attract attention to it. A lightbearer comes to investigate, and they are unaware that I, Tivik, have already secured a point of interest inside of the enemy stronghold that the lightbearer will inevitably seek out. You knew much, but not nearly enough."

"No Fallen has any right to be that clever…" The warlock choked.

Tivik's eyes narrowed. "I am the apex of assassination. I destroy my weaknesses. I will not be contested. Every murder I carry out is calculated and set up perfectly. I adapt. I stay hidden. My attacks are sporadic. You have earned the privilege of learning it all, warlock. You have my utmost respect." He charged his wire rifle for a final blow.

Phoros saw a glow of blue beyond his fading vision. He had no final words, for there was nobody to hear them. His ghost had already clattered to the floor, battered and drained of light. Dying. The last thing he saw was his hopeful, loyal companion. The one who had stayed with him to the end, no matter what he had done. The last thing Phoros did was drop his hand from his fusion rifle, now resting on his chest, and feel at the pocket on his robe for the crumpled photograph of his old fireteam.


	23. Chapter 22

"Forgive me, you two. I strayed." Phoros said, surprising himself. "I… can speak?" He opened his eyes to see a foggy plain of white. He looked around, but could not see his body.

"Where am I? Was I teleported again?" He held his palm up, but his ghost did not appear.

The fog began to clear, and he saw a cracked pillar come into view beside him.

"Impossible. This is…"

Eventually, his vision was no longer obstructed. He was standing in a ruined building, and the sun shone bright above him. He looked back down to see a hunter and a titan approach them. Their armor was fresh and new.

"You're those guardians… but if you're here, then." Phoros attempted to summon his ghost again, but to no avail.

"Take it easy, Phoros. It's all over." The hunter held his hands out in front of him.

"No, this can't be. After that day, I changed. I can't be… and my ghost, he-"

"You've been separated in death, but don't worry." The titan looked up, putting a hand on her hip, "he knew you better than anyone else could."

"That's not the point. I-" Phoros backed away.

"Did a lot of crappy stuff, yeah, we know, but what you did in your final days is a testament to your real commitment." The hunter walked away. "You deserve a lot, but think about the line between your true motives and the front you put up. You didn't hunt the Guardian Killer just for yourself. Deep down, you were sick of seeing your fellow guardians die, like we did."

"It doesn't matter anymore." Phoros dropped his head. "I died. Everything I did went to waste."

"I don't think so." The titan began to disappear into nothingness, as the hunter had done seconds before. Phoros' world began to go dark, and he felt as if he were being dragged away from the ruins.

"What do you mean?"

"The portal's still open. There's time."

-

"We can make it! There's still time!" Zahir whispered, eyeing the Vandal from behind the massive Hive door. He loaded his shotgun and stormed in, firing a buckshot toward Dreliks, who had begun to deactivate the teleporter. Dreliks leapt aside, allowing himself to be hit by only half of the blast.

The Eliksni's four eyes scanned the attacking titan's armor. He took note of the orange accents against the matte black base of platsteel.

"This is the lightbearer that killed so many of our crew." Dreliks activated his cloak as another shot blasted the rock beside him. "I will enjoy killing you!"

Zahir raised his fist and sent it into the ground, kicking up an enormous amount of dust with the force. He looked up, and saw the outline of the Vandal through the shroud of powdered rock. He ignored Dreliks, and took aim above a barrel of poison. The Vandal leapt down toward the container, and was knocked away by a barrage of shotgun pellets.

"Learn some new tricks." Zahir loaded his shotgun hastily but steadily, approaching the four armed alien. "You all have gotten too predictable."

"You'll never reach Tivik!" Dreliks aimed a shrapnel launcher at the teleporter, and began to shoot it with fiery scraps of metal.

"Hey!" Zahir dove between the projectiles and the Vex machine, taking several hits across his body. His armor began to dent and crack, and eventually, he began to feel pain.

"This is now a win win situation!" Dreliks stumbled forward, readying his weapon for another shot. "You'll suffer for everything you've done." Another mass of solar energy collided with the titan. "We were a family, they and I! I will survive, because the legacy they have passed on is just! A monster like you would never understand!" Before Dreliks shot again, Zahir, battered and damaged, tossed a pulse grenade into the air from his crouched position, catching the Vandal's attention.

The confused Eliksni assassin was finally eliminated by Zahir, who had bought just enough time to draw his shotgun with the distraction. As Dreliks slumped forward, the pulse grenade descended, charring and flipping his body over.

"That "win win situation" was mine." Zahir loaded one round into his shotgun and turned to the teleporter as Crucius healed his wounds. "No time to waste. Tivik might get away with his murder." He concluded, as he stepped toward the pulsing white plate. He immediately felt every atom in his body lift and swiftly descend as he jumped to the moon of Jupiter.

"Heads up, there are traces of a blight where we're standing." Crucius explained, scanning the cave room the duo had found themselves in. "They're very recent."

"Careful." Zahir prompted his ghost to disappear. "Did that guardian get rid of the blight? Maybe we had nothing to worry about." He exited the room, and froze at the sight he was met with.

Tivik leaned over a dead warlock, peeling the bond off of his arm. His towering height filled the length of the cave's ceiling, and blocked most of the light from the cave's entrance. As Tivik rose to attach the bond to himself, light was let onto the guardian's helmet.

"Is that… Phoros?" Zahir squinted and stepped forward to get a better look, catching the attention of the Guardian Killer.

"Another?" Tivik, surprised, raised his wire rifle and began to charge. Zahir ducked back into the room, avoiding its powerful bolt. "Dreliks, what happened?!" After hearing nothing, Tivik growled and clenched his fist. "Lightbearer… you have taken too much from me." He stomped forward, unclasping a poison canister from his bandolier.

"Darvahk," The device rolled into the room.

"Miskor," Zahir took notice, and began to scramble to the floor to intercept it.

"Dreliks," the canister detonated at the titan's feet, rapidly covering the floor of the room in the harmful gas.

"Noxis." Tivik peeked through the narrow opening, and was surprised to see the titan rocketing toward him, covered in arc energy.

"Do you remember this cave, Tivik?" Zahir's outstretched fist was caught by the large Eliksni. His light continued to propel him forward, creating a struggle of force against the two. "This is the same cave you did Saiph in-" Tivik released his upper arms and brought them down on Zahir's head, exhausting him of power and pushing him to the ground.

"I know you understand what it's like to lose a comrade, Tivik." Zahir groaned, halting the Guardian Killer's approach. "You know, there's still a chance…"

"A chance at what, pray tell? Spare me your petty chatter."

"A chance at being our ally."

Tivik froze with his hand hovering over the titan. The echoes of battle rattling around the cave fell silent, creating a calm but tense atmosphere.

"Foolish lightbearer… why would you ever associate me with humanity?" Tivik struck Zahir with his fist, but not at full force. "You have both confounded and angered me!" He continued to pummel the titan with each of his fists. "Your death will be slow, but assured!"

"Listen, Tivik, I know you feel like you need to keep killing us, but there is a way."

"I have no idea what you are mouthing off about."

Zahir saw Tivik's cold, steely eyes, and he knew right then: there was no sign of a sympathizer of humanity within the Eliksni that stood over him. Only a killer.

The Guardian Killer noticed Zahir's failed attempt at summoning a grenade in his hand. "You are finished. Drained of your strength. Your light is far from reach. You may as well hand your ghost over." Tivik held Zahir by the neck. "It will make things easier for all of us if it goes first."

Zahir shakily moved a closed, seemingly harmless fist over to the Eliksni. "You know, if there's one thing I learned from fighting your crew," he opened his hand to reveal an unpinned, human-made grenade. "It's to be prepared for anything."

Tivik's eyes widened as he attempted to fling the explosive away, and when he failed, he screamed as shrapnel dug into his side.


	24. Chapter 23

Tivik stumbled aside. His entire left half was charred pitch black, and the smoke from the explosion still lingered, filling his sense of smell with a vile reminder of his shortcoming. He heard all of his guns, including his modded wire rifle, crackle and pop, broken. He clutched at his wounded torso and began to grumble.

"How could this happen to me?! You…" the Guardian Killer crouched low and pointed at Zahir's body. "Who do you take me for?! I'll make sure you never see the light of day, no, anything ever again!"

Before Tivik could reach Crucius, the titan filtered back into the cave from the feet up and blasted the massive Eliksni back with all five rounds of his shotgun, shattering his void shields.

Tivik's head was overloaded with flashbacks to times he had stumbled while working his way up Noxis' crew. He was a dreg again, being knocked to the ground by the vandals. "No! Never again! I won't, I can't fail!" Tivik drew a shock blade from his belt and activated it. "This was meant for that warlock, but it seems I will need it for you, instead!"

"I had no sympathy for Phoros, but at the end of the day, that's another warrior of the light that's out of commission forever." Zahir stepped back to avoid the arc drenched sword. He threw a punch that was caught by Tivik's lower hand. He tried again, but ended up with both arms stuck. Tivik raised his upper two, blade in hand, for a finishing blow, but lost his composure as his already damaged stomach was headbutted. he felt the buckshot wounds scream in pain as his torn skin was scrambled by the titan's helmet. As he was pushed backward, the two found themselves at the mouth of the cavern, overlooking the Lost Oasis of Io several tens of feet below them.

"Lightbearer, you have no idea what you're doing! I am the savior of the Eliksni!" Tivik raised his blade again and plunged it into the advancing titan's back. "I will lead my people to greatness once again! It is my duty!"

"And who put that duty onto you?" Zahir pushed himself away from Tivik before the blade could hurt him anymore. "Some senile captain?" He winced as he removed the knife from his back and threw it behind Tivik, off of the cliff they now stood on.

"How dare you speak so lowly of Noxis? Of a dead Eliksni? The root of my Ambition is just!" The Guardian Killer's now black cape of stolen cloaks began to lift in a terrible, sudden wind. "Fate appointed me to be the harbinger of an era. An era that belongs to the Eliksni, and not humanity! You will be a martyr to my cause. The only one who could push me this far will die, as a reminder not to meddle with the Guardian Killer!"

"I've heard enough. You're not noble. You're not just. You're just a trapped soul, who has nothing to do but kill." Zahir closed his fist, and arc energy spread from it to his entire body. He began to walk toward the towering mercenary.

"How are you already charged? Back in that cave, you-"

"Io harbors a vast amount of Taken and their energy, but that's only because this moon is flowing with the Traveler's light." Zahir looked down at a crack in the ground below him that glowed a brilliant deep blue and siphoned power into his body. "You think I wanted to hear you out?"

"Then approach me. Destiny will assure that I emerge victorious. I am the right choice!" Tivik bared his claws.

"You're delusional. It's time you rest."

The two rushed toward each other, and Tivik was easily overpowered by Zahir's super charged state. He was pummeled repeatedly by the titan's electrical fists, until, eventually, he followed the path of his shock knife, plummeting from the raised cave entrance to the ground for what seemed like an eternity.

Zahir returned to normal and fell to his knees, exhausted.

"Zahir, I'm touching down soon." Lacer called, "What's the situation?"

"Tivik's dead, but he took Phoros with him."

"Phoros, huh…"

"Wait," Crucius returned from the cliff's edge. "Tivik's alive. Just barely, but he's alive, and he's talking?"

"What?" Zahir rushed over and looked down at the Fallen, sprawled over on the ground. He leaned over a hole in reality that oozed black.

"My will is going to live on. Even if... it does not belong to me..." Tivik groaned, allowing his ash covered body to sink into the cosmic blanket. "I will not… fail. Take me. I will ensure my plan is seen through… at all costs."

"No way. That's not good!" Crucius retreated to Zahir.

"A Taken rift?" Zahir drew his pulse rifle to fire, but Tivik was swallowed by the hole instantly, as if he were never there.

/

Tivik found himself falling through and endless abyss, but he felt no terror. It was almost comforting. Suddenly, a pitch black knife appeared high above him, and a voice began to boom throughout his skull.

"You are Tivik. Enslaved to an outside will that twisted your own. You murdered in your desperation, and abandoned your hope. Your life was one of abandonment and false promises. It all amounted to success, but perhaps not the success you desired.

You have been taken.

Relax. No other will burden your ambition. No longer will you answer to one weaker than you.

What veil shrouds you? What creature dares to pursue you?

You plan meticulously, and you are rewarded with the death of those you hunt. They shudder at your name. But you are not immune to failure. You are weak when surprised, and you feel so bound by your work, something you do not believe, deep down, you were called to do.

You must not be bound by your mistakes and fear. You deserve to live for yourself.

There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [freedom].

Take up the knife. Cover yourself in it. Take up your new shape."

Tivik shook his head. This didn't feel right. What had he done in his final moments of desperation?

He looked back up at the floating knife. It looked oh so enticing.

He shook again. What was he doing? Where was he? He was confused and scared, but slowly, his doubts were erased by the warm presence of the knife. He finally gave in, and took hold of it. His hand moved on its own, plunging the blade deep into his heart. There was no pain, only solace. A quite uncomfortable solace.

/

Tivik, Reforged Will, exploded back into existence in a puff of Taken energy. Instead of settling, it turned into a frenzied tornado, covering a radius around Tivik that spanned at least ten meters. Zahir was struck by the storm from his perch, and a cloud of darkness covered his head.

"Zahir? What happened? Zahir!" Lacer asked, "I'm almost there! I'm coming to you!"

"No! Land somewhere away from Tivik!" Zahir grasped at the blackness around his helmet, but he accomplished nothing. It lingered around his head, immovable.

"Tivik? You said he was dead! You're tellin' me that bastard can cheat death, too?"

"He was Taken. That's what happened! Right before he died, he was communing with a Taken rift." Zahir reached out in front of him, but still saw nothing. "Listen, I don't know for sure, but I think the cloud of Taken energy around him blinds anyone who comes into contact with him."

"So? That's what all Taken Captains do! It'll be gone any second!"

The two waited as the slave of Darkness lumbered away.

"Lacer… nothing's happening." Zahir continued to sit as his vision remained clouded. "I think we have to kill him to make this go away."


	25. Finale

"Damn, that's crazy." Lacer looked over at the Taken beast, or rather, the storm that surrounded it. "Hey, you!" Lacer fired a burst of bullets from his machine gun at Tivik, but they were caught and thrown away by the ferocious Taken winds. He felt a sense of anger and hopelessness wash over him.

"Well, that's a bunch of crap." He lowered his gun and lobbed a void grenade. With some struggle, it made its way through the barrier.

"It hit!" Lacer pumped his fist.

"It hit, but just barely. You only managed to scratch him." His ghost observed, "moreover, he's completely ignoring your attack."

"Where's he going, then?" Lacer continued to watch the sphere of black go away from him. He heard Tivik's heavy footsteps from within.

"He's heading to the Traveler's final resting area. It's probably because of the vast amount of light stored there! He wants to eat it all up!" Lacer's ghost flashed an image of the structure of raised rocks at the center of the crater that lay on the edge of the Lost Oasis. "I don't know what'll happen if he consumes that much of the Traveler's energy, but it can't be good."

"I guess we have no choice, then." Lacer scaled the cliffside with his lift, and landed next to his blind comrade. He saw the same flurry of Taken energy surround his friend's head, and he recoiled at the sight. He wanted to help, but was unsure what exactly was going on with Zahir. "Wow, uh, he got ya good."

"That's all you have to say?"

"Right. Okay, Zahir. I've learned two things!

One. Bullets are useless against his storm!

Two. Light can go through, but my grenade barely reached his body. It was basically useless."

Lacer held two fingers in front of the exo.

"So here's what I'm thinking. Since you can't see, we'll have Bronze come in and use her light to drill through that shield, and crack Tivik's head open. How's that? I'm a genius, right?"

"That's a good idea, Lacer, but…" Zahir made an attempt to stand. "Bronze isn't that fond of me after Phoros."

"Man, I'm sure she doesn't hate you."

"Even so, it'd take a lot of convincing for her to do a favor for me. I'll do it myself."

"No way, Zahir. If we're doing this, we want it to work as planned. Can't have a blind guy running point, now can we? Plus, a lot might be at stake. I'm sure she'll get us and come help." Lacer pushed Zahir back by the chest, standing up to his once leader. Something he hadn't done before, until that day in the ice caves on Mars.

Zahir sat back down, contemplating.

"Fine." He gave in. "Bronze, I need your help. Please." Zahir's own voice was muffled to himself by the Taken winds roaring around his head as he attempted to contact his student.

"Oh, you need my help?" Bronze replied haughtily, "I thought your decisions were the best. You can take this on your own, right?"

"Listen, Bronze, a lot is at stake, and I know that's no excuse. I'm sorry. You've been thrown into this world for barely over a year, and I've been a bad role model. Sometimes, we make mistakes in our desperation, and it happens at the worst times. Nothing we can do about it now, but hope for the best. I hope you can forgive me. We need you."

"That's all I needed to hear, but you'll owe me a favor. What's the plan? I'm flying over right now!"

"As energetic as ever, I see." Zahir patted at his darkened visor in realization of his contradiction. "I've already patched you in with Eltanin. She'll tell you the rest." He switched his comms to his friend down below him. "Lacer, is she coming?"

"I've already arrived!" Ascella descended from her ship beside the defender, and waved up at Zahir.

"Good. Ascella, follow Lacer, and help him keep Tivik clear of other Taken. We need to pinpoint Tivik's exact location, and we need him to stay still."

"Taken? There's no- oh." Lacer watched as a mass of tortured souls marched their way toward the once Guardian Killer.

"Here's what's happening, everyone. Using the coordinates Lacer's ghost is capturing, Eltanin will determine where Bronze should position her ship, so that she can jump down onto Tivik with a thundercrash."

"The man with the plan! Just like old times." Lacer gave a thumbs up as he pursued their slow moving target with Ascella in tow.

"I dunno what you guys mean, but I'm pumped!" Bronze's ship appeared at the edge of the Lost Oasis. She appeared on the roof of her ship, and began cracking her knuckles. "Got it, Eltanin. Alright, Zahir. Teach me how to thundercrash!"

"Of course." Zahir took a deep breath. In the distance, Ascella fired her shadowshot inside of Tivik's shield, and retreated into Lacer's ward of dawn. The arrow sliced clean through the dark barrier, and the telltale noise of a void anchor springing sounded, locking the massive Taken, and consequently, the storm, in place. the two defended themselves from a horde of Taken thrall. Their rounds glinted bright against the terrible storm directly behind them.

"Performing a thundercrash is all about movement."

Eltanin rapidly fed Bronze's ghost finely tuned directions. The little light hastily adjusted the angle and position of the ship that his guardian stood atop.

"You're stretching your fist toward a goal. A goal that's physical. For you, right now, that's Tivik."

Ascella caught a wounded Lacer on her shoulder as the ward of dawn dissipated. They both continued to fight desperately, pelted repeatedly by Taken bullets.

"Jump, Bronze. Your hand is your guide. Point it at your goal."

The young titan leapt, and she felt all of her momentum shift into her outstretched arm. There was a soft screech of lightning, and she was sailing straight downward.

"Zahir! Zahir! I'm doing it! I'm thundercrashing!"

"Good job, Bronze. I'm proud." The exo smiled. "Now you're in perfect shape to sail straight through that storm. Remember, don't miss. Ascella, Lacer, get out of there!"

"On it!" Ascella leapt away, thrusting forward in midair with her legs. She tumbled behind a rock with Lacer on her back, and the two were now safe from gunfire.

"Ohhh god, that's embarrassing!" Lacer whined as his ghost healed his wounds.

"Shut up! We got out alright, and that's all that matters!" Ascella jokingly smacked the titan's helmet. "Anyway, check out the grand finale." She pointed up to a streak of blue energy that rapidly approached the ground from the sky.

"That's gonna be huge. I'm recording this. Zahir ain't missing it." Bronze's journey down was reflected in Lacer's visor.

An explosion rocked the Lost Oasis, one that kicked up dust everywhere and shook the leafless trees. Zahir's vision returned, just in time to see Tivik's new form screech as it convulsed in death.

The Eliksni felt his mind escape reality.

"I failed.

Is this… true freedom?"

He thought back to all he had done. He promised his brother that they would meet again. He struggled to live as a lowly dreg. He reluctantly continued to kill lightbearers. He was not himself when he finally decided to destroy his past in order to upkeep his reputation with no regrets.

And when his back was against the wall, when he was finally contested by Zahir, he knew, right then and there, with a cleared mind, that there was no way he could waver. He had to choose to continue killing. The path to redemption through cooperation with humanity was closed due to his past actions. He would take the bloody route. He completed the block in his memory, undone in death.

Now, he regretted his choice.

"That's right. I am no Eliksni. How could I ever have been a savior to them? I am sorry, Vyksis. Perhaps if I joined another crew… perhaps if I weren't so weak, I… no. Now is not the time for reminiscing. Carry on our dream, brother. The dream that I failed to see through."

With that, Tivik's thoughts disappeared forever.

Zahir stood up and pat his hands. Before him was a makeshift grave marked by a strange looking rocket launcher labelled "wind rocket."

"Phoros, you did nothing but confuse me. I want to ask you why you hurt Eltanin, and why you decided to hunt Tivik. In the end, though, we wouldn't have killed him if you didn't initiate all of this." He spoke to a long dead husk. "I feel nothing for you. That's all I'll say." The titan walked away, leaving Phoros' memory alone in a field of bones and rock.

"I'm back, and just in time to start making dinner." The exo appeared at the door, to Eltanin's delight.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" She went over and sunk into Zahir with a hug. "Great work."

"All I did was give orders. Thank them." The titan pointed back to the group of guardians behind them.

"You're all here?"

"Of course! We gotta celebrate!" Lacer grinned at the thought of having Zahir's cooking.

"It's been a while. My taste buds are ready." Ascella thought out loud.

"Alright, everyone, sit down. It'll be rolling out, and don't ask me what I'm making. It's a surprise." Zahir walked over to the kitchen, and immediately began setting pots and pans on the stove.

"So," Lacer turned over to Bronze, who hadn't spoken. "How's thundercrashing? Yours looked real nice out there."

"You have no idea." She clutched her wrist. "It still feels like I'm charging. I love it!"

"That's what I thought when I first got the bow." Ascella flexed a tendril of void energy in her palm. "You'll get used to it, sweetheart."

"Hey, by the way. I wanna check out your room, Eltanin!" Bronze leaned over the table and startled the ex-warlock.

"My room? I just moved in! There's barely anything there!" She shook her hands.

"Oh, come on. I wanna see anyway. We're going."

"I'll go, too." Ascella stood up and lead the other two.

"I'll stay here." Lacer put his hands behind his head and leaned in his chair. "Just like old times." He filled the spots in the table with his fallen friends. He saw Zahir's personal fireteam near the back end of the table. Kale-8, the hunter, flicked at the annoyed warlock, Heather's hair, as she attempted to study a Crucible rulebook. Saiph, the hunter, looked out of a window, bored and uninterested, as the warlock Vira attempted to explain one of his theories of the Hive.

"I hope you're doing good, Saiph, wherever you are. The rest of you, too." The four guardians disappeared from their chairs in Lacer's mind as Zahir set a pot down onto the table.

"Hey, you three, get out here. Appetizer's ready." The exo called.

Hey all! Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for Tales of a Mars Sentry Season 2 (also check out season 1) and thanks again!

The direct sequel to this story is Sons of Phoros


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